Strong Adherence to Party Affiliation

One of our guides Liu was working his way into the Communist Party and he commented on the extensive amount of work that he had to do in order to be in the party. It really makes you take pride in your organization if you have to struggle to get into it. Our political affiliations are practically given to us when we turn eighteen. Either you become a democrat, republican, or dependant. There is no extensive study or research done into each party we just simply pick one. What meaning would these political parties have to us if we had to constantly engross ourselves in the history and stances of each party? Yet at the same time it is more acceptable to switch parties in the American system whereas it would be looked down upon in the Chinese government.