Great Minds Think Alike

During one particular writing exercise in the course, we were asked to formulate a question and think of three questions more general in scope and three more specific in scope. One of the questions that I thought of that seems to be the most interesting argument to make a paper from is "What could the USA gain from following examples of European Nations?"

Thankfully, one Soren Dosenrode had a similar thought and covered the topic with Canada in mind instead of America. I suspect this is more to do with how close Canada remains to the commonwealth along with the fact that Dosenrode and his peers reside and work in Canada. In his book "The EU and Federalism" part of his series on Federalism, he introduces a nice graphical representation on just what differences lie between the governance style of the EU and Canada. It is reproduced here:

While this is not a comparison between any particular country in Europe and Canada, it still offers some insight into how the EU operates and does so with little obfuscation. Instead of focusing on hierarchy like Canada or the US (especially after the Civil War cemented the hierarchies of US governments as all-important), the EU focuses instead on fostering negotiation and cooperation over competition and hierarchy. As Weiler, quoted by Dosenrode explains: "Trust ties in the EU have been enhanced because member states commit themselves voluntarily to shared norms on a continuously renewed basis."*

Taking the focus off of Canadian politics, since their are major differences between the two systems, I choose to focus on American politics instead. Throughout our nations history there have been periods where the necessity of hierarchy has been demonstrated, especially during the Civil Rights movement. However in the 21st century, negotiation and cooperation between states is becoming an increasingly valuable tool. With issues such as drugs, technology, and education dividing the nation it is becoming more difficult to force the Union to remain united. Perhaps it is time to reconsider how our government functions and to take a deep look at the European Union and its policies to improve our own.