[ZeTurd]

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I would venture to say that a good percentage of Americans could not point out Europe on a map. And I can say with certainty that a sizeable majority of American could not point out, say, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, or any other of a number of European countries on a map. The insularity of American culture is, in my experience, something that is difficult for Europeans to fully grasp.


[/ QUOTE ] I think a sizeable majority of Europeans could not point out any US state save for maybe Florida, Hawaii and Alaska on a map.

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US States != Nations

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How not? Each state is a mostly sovereign political entity. Well, according to the Constitution anyway. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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Obviously US States are more autonomous than Norwegian "fylker" or Swiss cantons, but they can hardly be likened to independent nations either.

Last time I checked you had a federal government with some influence over the various states, as well as a supreme court with some jurisdiction over direct appeals from state court decisions.

I have a feeling you wish it were not so though!

Further, it's my understanding that there really isn't that much deviation from common law in most states. At least nothing that can be compared to the differences between Norwegian and Italian law for instance.

I know state independence is important for some (most?) Americans, but it really isn't fair to expect that a European should have the same level of knowledge of American states as one might expect an American should have of independent European nations.

When it comes to placing states on the map, there's also the practical concern of American states (mostly) being lumped together in a solid mass of land with little distinct geographical features to help separate them...