Most foreigners from democratic countries have parliamentary forms of government, so there isn't the drama of a "divided" government such as we have most of the time. Historically, it's the way we chose to limit the power of our central government. As such, Washington D.C. is definitely not the center of all American political influence, despite what people who live and work there might think. America is huge geographically; this is the uniform reaction of foreign visitors from most countries – keep in mind that their countries are often much smaller than one of our smaller states, and the very idea that one can drive thousands of miles, all across America, and never encounter a border boggles the mind of most foreign visitors. It's the one thing you hear from most visitors here.
