Hence, the appetite for intra-party confrontation is lower than it was.
And while those of you with parliaments that make no claims to motherhood may smile with a certain self-satisfaction at the comeuppance of Westminster, be aware that the American system was also based on an adversarial two-party confrontation, borrowed from England.
(People talk about the alpha-male faceoff of De Niro and Pacino in Heat. But how about the Stewart/Grant post-party confrontation here? Or the Stewart/Hepburn romantic clash that follows that?) It is an effortlessly classy piece of work.
But before the election, the North described Park's conservative party as "confrontation maniacs".
And yet Mr Sharif and many members of his party fear confrontation will trigger horrific retaliation in their political heartland of Punjab, the rich, populous province so far relatively unscathed by militant attacks.
For a country still new to the rough and tumble of a real campaign after 71 years of dominance by a single party, the confrontation offered an exhilarating glimpse of presidential candidates' slugging it out without makeup or rules.
The Jewish Board of Deputies and the Labour party were against confrontation.
Regionalist at times, separatist at others; liberal in theory, protectionist in practice; often populist, certainly anti-immigrant, it has also shaped itself as the party of cultural confrontation.
Lewis is credited with persuading Ed Miliband to take a tougher line against News Corporation, after the party initially avoided confrontation with the media group.
Mr. Franks voted with his party during the confrontation with President Clinton that gave rise to the 27-day government shutdown in 1995.
That may sound pompous, but next time you hear a bellicose interview by John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations and currently chief cheerleader for the confrontation party in Washington, reflect on how much harder it now is for Britain to argue that restraint is the best way of avoiding humiliation.
