Cross cultural research and practice
Edward Tylor (1832-1917) defines culture as a collection of customs, laws, morals, knowledge, and symbols displayed by a society and its constituting members. Culture is form of collective expression by groups of people. Since the dawn of industrial revolution and later, due to an increased integration of cultures across nations, cross-cultural analysis has assumed much import in scholastic discourse within psychology, anthropology, and psychology. Present study is an endeavor to make a cross-cultural assessment of American and Japanese culture. More differences than similarities have been found in both the cultures. Where Japanese culture fosters Aimai, meaning ambiguity and vagueness, Americans are intolerant to this characteristic. Based on Hofstede's four dimensional theory of cross-cultural analysis, findings regarding individualism-collectivism index, power distance index, uncertainty tolerance, and masculinity-femininity index of American and Japanese people have been presented. Secondary research of pertinent literature and rigorous comparative analysis reveals that while both cultures are monocentric and value masculinity, they are diametrically opposed in uncertainty avoidance and individualism-collectivism index. The paper is divided in seven sections each highlighting different but interconnected theme regarding cross-cultural analysis of American and Japanese cultures.
Public Sphere Democratic Governance Relates
Democratic governance relates to the capacity and opportunity available at the disposal of the citizens for the purposes of engagement in enlightened debate or discussion. Public sphere refers to the opportunity in which citizens of the states discuss and debate on critical aspects of the nation. Habermas's concept of the public sphere focuses on the explanation of the realm within social life which facilitating the formation and accessibility of the public opinion to all citizens. According to his analysis, the engagement within the public sphere is blind to class positions. Interactions or connections between activists within the context of the public sphere relate to the general interest of the state. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the existence of the new aspects of public spheres with the aim of evaluating the implications towards empowerment of the citizens, enhancement of democracy, and other components such as re-feudalism.