Essay aus dem Jahr 2011 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Kultur und Landeskunde, Universität Mannheim, Veranstaltung: Academic Writing, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: During the past decade, there has been an increasing critical view of the United States in Western Europe. However, before judging a culture it is important to understand the historical background and the underlying principles which make the United States so different from Western European countries like Germany. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to inform about selected issues out of the wide field of social structure by combining research facts with historical aspects and cultural background. The first comparison points addressed in this essay is the role of multiculturalism for both countries, which is more similar than usually expected. The second part compares social welfare of both countries, which deals as an example with the system of health insurance. The last section examines collectivist and individualist features of the United States and Germany.

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Cultural Studies - Empiric Cultural Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Hildesheim, language: English, abstract: An American Football championship game took place between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. The Packers received a 21-17 victory, however, it was not the result that made this game unforgettable. The special aspect was the weather conditions. The wind chill temperature was down to minus 40 degrees Celsius, and that is why the game got the nickname Ice Bowl. It was so cold that the official’s whistle froze to his lips when he wanted to start the game. Instead of canceling it because of the arctic temperatures, it was just decided not to use any whistles for the rest of the game. Not only every player on the field fought against nature but also more than 50.000 fans watching the game live at sold out Lambeau Field. Lots of them suffered frostbite, four spectators even had a heart attack. How can it be that American Football is that important in the United States? How can a game become so popular that people even risk their health for it? On the other hand the question arises why American Football is quite unpopular and unknown in Germany. All these questions are to lead through this comparing term paper so that in the end, a selection of possible reasons can be given. The term paper starts with an illustration of American Football’s popularity in the USA and in Germany. After that the main part, the comparison, will begin. There are four categories chosen to help explain why American Football is more popular in the U.S. than in Germany - those are chance, the attitudes towards warfare, values and the education systems. It will be analyzed how much influence these components have on the popularity in both countries. Finally, the conclusion follows, in which all results will be summed up and interpreted.

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject Politics - Region: USA, grade: very good, University of Wyoming (Department of Political Science), course: U.S. Presidency And Congress, language: English, abstract: “Legislatures have one core defining function: that of giving assent to measures that, by virtue of that as-sent, are to be binding on society. In practice, they have usually other roles as well, such as debating meas-ures or the conduct of public affairs. They have existed for centuries. They span the globe. Most countries have one; federal states have several.” This statement applies to both institutions my paper deals with: to the United States Congress as well as to Germany’s parliament. The constitutional core of both political systems is actually a powerful bicameral parliament vested with the power to enact legislation. However, the structure of power of the American Congress in comparison to the German system is different in regard to the relationship of both chambers to each other on the one hand and to the executive on the other hand. But both institutions share the same essential functions of representing the people of their country, of counterbalancing the executive power and of developing legislation. Germany’s political system is build upon a parliamentary structure, where the power of the executive depends on a prime minister or chancellor and his cabinet getting their mandate from the legislature and thus being responsible to and depending on the support of it. On the contrary, the United States features a presidential system, where the president is both head of the state and head of the government, independent from the legislature, which can be dominated by the oppos-ing party (divided government). But this does not mean that the two branches cannot be com-pared. Because of their position within the federal system (as described above) and the similar composition of the branches, a comparison is more than just possible. It was the high influence of the allied powers and in particular of the United States occupation policy after World War II that made the German parliament bicameral. Its first chamber, the Bundestag (Federal Diet) corresponds to the United States House of Representa-tives, the Bundesrat (Federal Council) is comparable to the United States Senate – although I have to admit, that Germany’s chambers are created unequal.

Based on the 1993 Syracuse University English Language Public Use File of the German Socio-Economic Panel data and the 1989 Response- Nonresponse File of the United States Panel Study on Income Dynamics. Covers the 1980s.

The side-by-side comparison between the U.S. Supreme Court and the German Federal Constitutional Court provides a novel socio-legal approach in studying constitutional litigation, focusing on conditions of mobilisation, decision-making and implementation.

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, Martin Luther University, language: English, abstract: In this paper, it should be examined in which ways the difference in creating a social system by the state can be connected to cultural values which shape the political culture of the respective country. Of course, there are many other components which influence the development of social security in the United States like industrialization or economic growth. In the media one gets the impression that individualism is responsible for the unusual kind – from a German point of view – of social policy in the United States (Murswieck 1988: 8). Also David McKay emphasizes the fact that “nothing more accurately seems to represent Americanism than a stress on individual rather than collective action” (2001: 11). But is individualism the only reason within cultural values for the belated public social policy in the United States?

Contrary to the explanations offered by the theory of non-reflexive, path-dependent institutionalism, the U.S. and the German automotive industries undertook strikingly similar patterns of industry modification under tough international competition during the 1990s, departing from their traditional national patterns. By investigating the processes of the U.S. and German adjustments, the author critically reconsiders the prevalent paradigms of political economy and comes to the conclusion that the evidence does not confirm the neoliberal paradigm. In order to better account for the recomposition of new market relations, which the author terms "converging but non-liberal" and "diverging but not predetermined" markets, he proposes an alternative model of "politics among reflexive agents," emphasizing different kinds of problem-solving practices among those reflexive agents. He argues that different forms and regimes of market are established in the process of recomposition, in which agents reflect upon not only market rationality but also upon their own institutions, creating new norms.