As I prepare to embark on my London study abroad program as an American-born citizen, I see many similarities and differences between our two cultures. This opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I have been looking forward to. While still uncertain about what I will be met with regarding UK culture upon my arrival, I look forward to being a part of this program and bettering myself as a future global leader. I feel that understanding culture outside of the USA is the first step in furthering my knowledge and sense of understanding about how the world operates as a collective community.
An aspect of US culture that I find most objectively interesting is our representative democracy, and how our government makes decisions. The application of an electoral college and how it applies to our government is a concept that is relatively young in the history of global governments(as the USA is still a relatively young nation in the eyes of global history).
I feel this aspect of American culture is part of what defines our government, and subsequently, our nation as a whole. I think an electoral college has both its positives and negatives when it comes to efficiency and representation within our culture. Positives include a collective reflection of the “majority” of the nation’s voters as a whole. However, it also has its negatives, as there are times where large cities in states can skew the voting (and can often times misrepresent how the more rural areas on the states may have voted.)
Someone outside the US would probably have a similar outlook as me. As with most things in life, there are positives and negatives attached to most decisions. Support of an electoral college in a representative democracy has been very popular since its inception as our governmental system. Recognizing the positives and negatives of any system is the first step to understanding the benefits, but also areas that need improvement within any culture. I look forward to seeing how a parliamentary system in the UK impacts not only the government as a whole but also citizens in their everyday lives. From the basic research I have conducted thus far, I have found there to be more than a few similarities between our two governmental systems. With the pending resignation of the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson, I look forward to seeing how the nation responds as a whole with my time over there. I will find it especially interesting how the nation goes about electing a new Prime Minister, and how it will be accepted among its citizens. Self-induced resignations are almost unheard of among US government officials, so I think it will prove most interesting to see how the Presidential equivalent of the UK exits their current position, and how it will be filled.
This exercise has been enlightening for my time abroad as I now have a deeper understanding of my own culture, and look forward to comparing and contrasting the culture in the UK.
