Patriotic dissent

Patriotic dissent is the idea that a citizen of a democracy has the right and the duty to not follow the crowd on matters political, but rather to stand up and try to do what's best for the country, even if it's unpopular, difficult, or labeled "unpatriotic."

Elections give every American citizen the chance to either support the current government, or register their own patriotic dissent by suggesting another path for America.

The majority party in elections often tries to label dissenters as unpatriotic, but this goes against the grand tradition of American political involvement.

Examples

American history is full of examples of patriotic dissent, from the Founding Fathers to the modern day:

1. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the other leaders of their generation risked being called traitors and unpatriotic Englishmen to articulate a concept of American identity. Aside from facing strong opposition from the British, the Founding Fathers like Washington and Jefferson faced opposition from their fellow colonists, some of whom considered themselves to be Englishmen above all else.
2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt lobbied for American entry into World War II, despite America's conception of itself, then, as an isolationist nation untroubled by "dying Europe." In doing so, Roosevelt went against his countrymen's perception of their nation, and fought for good against the Nazi regime.