After learning about the German political system, and comparing that to what I know of the United States system, a bunch of differences stand out but the biggest one would have to be representation in the legislature, as far as the party system goes. Germany has what is known as a multi-party system, which allows room for smaller parties to participate in government. There are two main groups being the CDU/CSU which is center right, and the SPD which is center left. In the United States, these two groups would be the only real players because of how the US system is set up, a majority take all. Rarely do we even here of other parties, besides the one that is starting to gain memento, that being the Greens. Germany on the other hand has a handful flourishing parties like the Left Party, the Greens, and the FDP. By using both first-past-the-post and the additional member system when electing the Budestag, the little parties have a much better chance.
As far as which system I think is better, I'd have to go with the German political system, especially after these past eight years. Not only does the coalition system/electoral system allow for a greater of representation of ideologies with the presence of smaller groups; but also it benefits the population, in that compromises have to be made daily. If the United System had this type of political system, I would like to believe that things would be pretty different and perhaps we'd be seen better in the eyes of European citizens. Many times during my seven weeks traveling in Europe, politics have come up. Many of these people thought that George Bush's stance was the stance of all American citizens, it was nice to be able to correct them and say actually, most of us we do not agree with him. Does this emphasize a of lack of knowledge about different political systems, or does this just point out how the US system is not so representative? Seeing as they were able to have pretty good conversations about US and other foreign politics, I'd have to go with the stance of highlighting the lack of representation. Perhaps after this administration, we could find someway to make this system more representative. I'm all about the people, and about equality; equality in life and equality in politics.