In the wake of a contentious campaign for the presidency, many Republicans hold George W. Bush’s re-election to the White House is proof the president’s policies received a popular mandate Election Day.

Many expect initiatives launched by the administration over the past four years to continue, if not grow, in their force and potency both here and across the globe.

“I have nothing but a positive outlook for the next four years,” Nicole Marklein, chair of College Republicans, said, adding Bush’s victory with a majority of the popular vote proves Americans stand behind his policies.

“It means that most people are confident in the direction the country is going.”

But some point to this year’s notably close race as proof the country remains bitterly divided, and that those divisions will not disappear over the next four years. The election results clearly give Bush another tenure in office but were nothing close to a “landslide,” according to many experts.

“You need to be careful to [not] overestimate how powerful this was,” Donald Ferree, University of Wisconsin political science professor, said.

Ferree added many Americans simply voted for the candidate they perceived to be the lesser of two evils.

“If you want a clear definition for a mandate, you need a common thread for the reason people voted.”

But some Democrats fear a mandate for the administration’s polices — particularly on social issues and the war in Iraq — is exactly how the president intends to interpret the results.

With the Republican-controlled Congress picking up a number of seats Tuesday as well, Bush’s opponents claim the president can now push his conservative agenda through both houses with increasing ease. In particular, many Democrats remain concerned Bush has the opportunity to appoint, unhampered by Congress, an ultra-conservative Justice to the Supreme Court.

“Under the Bush Administration with the Republican Congress, I just don’t think this country is going to move forward,” Liz Sanger, chair of College Democrats, said, adding Bush’s determination to advance his policies will only be “exacerbated” during his second term in office. “I am afraid of what Bush might do in four years when he doesn’t have to face re-election.”

Ferree agrees Bush’s second term might alleviate some of the constraints tempering his previous policies.

“Presidents in their second term are no longer looking to be re-elected,” he said. “They are concerned about their legacy.”

Even so, all sides agree the president inherits a difficult four years, with no end in sight for the war on terror and an economy whose health remains anything but certain. Yet, of all the issues set to confront Bush, it is the heightened political polarization between Americans many foresee as the most challenging.

“We need to stop this divisiveness,” Marklein said.