How are your eyes doing? Mine still need to recover from checking my phone every minute of the day, following the US election. A result of the election has arrived and as I can finally be freed from CNN’s Key Race Alerts by closing my laptop, I wonder why I care so much about this election. Why do we care so much more about what happens overseas, while we don’t follow any political action happening in the European Union? How is it possible that turnout for the elections of the European parliament is incredibly low, while the US elections have been trending on Twitter for the past 96 hours? Why is no one sharing treaties or election results coming from the European Union, while I have seen the faces of Biden and Harris about a hundred times today? Why am I, why are we, so incredibly America-obsessed?

            Firstly, I think it’s of importance to realise that the US holds a hegemonic position in the world. While the power of the nation is in decline, I don’t believe that its hegemonic position has vanished entirely yet. This means that their politics are relevant to us in Europe. We are dependent on the decisions they make, regarding their foreign policy, as well as their decisions on issues such as climate change. The US still holds a tremendous amount of influence over the world. However, I think that their cultural influence is also enormous. The literature we read, the films we see and in general the arts we enjoy often come from the US. Consequently, the US norms are imposed on us as well, which makes us a lot more involved with the nation itself. Let me give you an example. I have watched a lot of romantic films. It was only when talking to a friend’s parents recently, that I realised that in my country, the Netherlands, it is not the norm to propose with a ring. The image of getting on one knee with an enormous diamond ring is an image that Hollywood has ingrained in my brain, even though it’s by no means a part of my culture.

            The US thus holds influence over us Europeans, which justifies our interest in the nation. However, that does not explain our obsession with The States. The political landscape of the US and its two-party system offers an environment that is easy to document. Only one of two candidates can win and the report on the election can be similar to reporting a boxing match. It is entertaining and exciting to watch two candidates scream at each other. It is graspable to think of ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ instead of a coalition that has to be formed. On top of that, the politicians in the US try to sell themselves, which is intriguing, because often their stories are extremely compelling. Accordingly, news shows in the US are almost entertainment shows selling us stories, while constantly reporting polls and data that the viewer can watch and follow closely. Politics in the US, are easy to follow.

            Meanwhile ‘at home’, the European Parliament does not even speak the same language and debates are difficult to follow through a translator with a monotone voice. Moreover, the European Union consists of so many different committees and commissions, that it’s hard to keep track of what is happening. There is just too much bureaucracy. There is nothing exciting, glamorous or sexy about politics in Brussels. And on top of its dull politics, we simply lack European ‘patriotism’, as we are first and foremost part of our own countries; a ‘European culture’ hardly exists.

            Lastly, our interest in America derives from our historical view of America. Tocqueville, when returning to Europe, believed that the democracy and equality in the US offered a great example for countries in Europe. While the US has now slid back into a ‘flawed democracy’, the sentiment of taking US as an example also persisted after Tocqueville’s time. In the cold war for instance, The States represented a land of freedom and opportunities. The concept of the ‘American Dream’ might have existed mainly in the US itself, it also left traces in Europe. This is not to say that these views of America were justified or matched reality, but the nation portrayed (or perhaps portrays) an enticing image of freedom, and that image might still be stuck in our heads.

            All in all, it‘s perhaps just a part of our culture to, albeit subconsciously, perceive the US as an example. That the media portray politics in the US as entertainment that is easy to consume, like any television show we can binge-watch, certainly does not help to break away from our (outdated) views on the US. I think it would do us all, and especially me, some good to take a step back from American politics. Instead, we should shift our focus on politics that might actually be more relevant for us. Maybe in a few years I will be traumatised by Key Race Alerts coming from the elections for the European Parliament (one can hope, anyway.)