Power Distance in Germany and Russia: Then vs Now

The element I will be discussing is power distance. Power distance can be defined as how much members of society expect and accept that power is unequally distributed. High power distance means people are accepting of the hierarchical structure and low power distance means that the people want equality in power distribution and for injustice to be addressed.

Two countries' whose power distances interest me are Germany and Russia. Both had infamous pasts with extremely high power distance levels. This was only the case because the governments at the time were totalitarian and created a hostile environment through sheer force and fear.

I'll begin with Germany. During the Nazi Regime that lasted from 1933-1945, the German people were brainwashed to hate Jews and other "subhuman races". The hierarchical structure of this era was that blue-eyed, blonde hair people of Aryan descent were the best in the land. Germans were expected to believe and adhere to this untrue principle or risk being imprisoned or killed ("Nazi Racism.").

I do not have specific empirics on Germany's power distance during the Nazi Regime, but I am pretty confident the numbers were fairly high. Looking at Germany nowadays, however, the story is quite different. Having put the Nazi Party and East/West Germany behind it, the Fatherland now measures a modest 35 on the Power Distance Index Scale (Hofstede).

Compared to their ancestors of World War II, a new generation of Germans has grown up believing that people should be treated equally in all aspects of life. This is an amazing turnaround for a country that was systematically trying to kill off an entire race and take over the world approximately 76 years ago.

Now I am going to take a look at Russia. Similar to Germany, Russia operated on brute force and fear ever since the Bolsheviks took over and made the country into a Soviet state in 1917. When Joseph Stalin ascended to power in 1924, the power distance of the country was through the roof! Stalin killed millions of Russians ruthlessly! One callous act of Stalin's involved him starving and killing over seven million Ukrainians simply because they sought independence from the Soviet Union ("The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Stalin's Forced Famine 1932-33.").

Russia's communist government at this time did tell people they were all "equal", but of course this was not exactly the case. Russia did not approve of Nazi Germany's antisemitism policies, but did embark on some antisemitic endeavors of its own. No matter how much the Russian people disapproved of Stalin and the direction he was taking Russia, they knew they could not speak for fear of imprisonment or death. The power distance of Russia was most likely equal to that of Germany's at this time.

Nowadays, Russia is fairly different than the bloodthirsty, nuclear-driven world power it was during World War II and the Cold War. The people, however, are still fairly accepting of a government that is slowly trying to poke some trouble with the United States and other parts of the world. On the Power Distance Index Scale, Russia has a 93 (Hofstede). Whether it is the government or the way the generation has been raised, Russia's people find no problem with their government and their place in it.

Both these countries have troubled pasts and I would say if anything that Germany has made significant process. The people of the Fatherland are much more inclined to support equality according to the scale and also demand justice for those it has barred from. Russia, on the other hand, needs some work. It was only a bit over 20 years ago that communism fell in Russia, so maybe the people are still trying to cope with this concept of economic freedom and being able to move up in society through hard work.

Though the power distances differ tremendously, both countries have come a long ways since World War II and hopefully neither of these two nations will be causing any more global conflicts in the years to come (even though Russia has been dabbling these last couple of years).


Sources:

          Hofstede, Geert. "THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE." Germany. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://geert-hofstede.com/germany.html>.

          "Nazi Racism." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007679>.

          "The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Stalin's Forced Famine 1932-33." The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Stalin's Forced Famine 1932-33. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.htm>.

Media Systems in Romania

The country of Romania is located in Eastern Europe. Its government is a republic that is unitary semi-presidential. Out of the seven media dimensions, the ones that I will be talking about within Romania are its government system, the media's freedom, and the media ownership (Hitchins).

Until 1990, Romania was a communist nation that was a part of Russia's Eastern Soviet Bloc. After the fall of communism in 1990, Romania's government system transformed into a free nation with most of the power being invested in the government rather than the people. Even though all of the power resides in its government, Romania does not have that tight of a grip on its media (Hitchins).

Unlike the United States, who has the Federal Communications Committee, Romania has no distinctive regulatory agency. Instead it has the National Broadcasting Council, whose's main objective is to protect the public's interest. Even with the presence of the NBC, Romanian media is mostly free to do what it pleases (Ulmanu).

Newspaper and print media in Romania still sells, but like everywhere else in the world, these sales are declining as the Internet becomes more and more popular. Romania's radio stations are mostly private. There are more privately owned radio stations than public ones. The main radio networks are Radio Zu, Kiss FM, ProFM, and Radio 21. All of these are privately owned (Ulmanu).

The most popular form of media in Romania is television. Since it is the most popular media, public television is heavily controlled by the government. In addition to that, television receives a plethora of funding from ads, TV taxes, and the state budget. Although Romania allows its media to express free thoughts and opinions, the government plays somewhat of a watchdog role with control over television. In terms of the Internet, the Romanian government does not bar its people from any particular websites (Ulmanu).

As I mentioned earlier, a majority of Romania's radio stations are privately owned. However, there are still some publicly owned stations which make Romanian radio a blend of both.  Television is publicly owned and operated by the government. It is strictly in the public sphere of ownership. The traditional media found in newspapers and magazines is also a blend of publicly and privately owned media outlets (Ulmanu).

Once a communist country that censored its press entirely, Romania has come a long way since its Soviet years. The country is now free, for the most part, as power lies mostly in the government. The people are free to do and speak how they want. The media, except for television, is free from government interference and allowed to act how it wants. The ownership of media also varies and is fairly split between publicly and privately owned entities. Romania, as a whole, is a country that promotes various media interests and allows its media outlets to say and report what they want to say.

Sources: 

        Hitchins, Keith Arnold. "Transportation and Telecommunications." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 22 Jan. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508461/Romania/42850/Transportation-and-telecommunications>.

        Ulmanu, Alexandru-Brădut. "Romania - Media Landscape | European Journalism Centre (EJC)." European Journalism Centre (EJC). Web. 22 Jan. 2015. <http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/romania#link_422>.

An Introduction to Zack Gonzalez

My name is Zachary E. Gonzalez and I am currently a sophomore here at the University of Florida. I am from Coral Springs, Florida, which is about five hours south of Gainesville. Most of my media experience stems from my dealings with my website, ZackKnowsSports.com

I started the website at the beginning of my freshman year at UF and I constantly maintain and update it with stories and pictures from Gator athletic events I attend or see on TV. It is a good amount of work, but I greatly enjoy doing it!

I have only been abroad once. During my sophomore year of high school, my Latin class took a trip to Italy where we visited Rome, Vatican City, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and a few other historic cities. I enjoyed the trip, but I feel like I would have a much better appreciation of Italian culture and history if I was to go back as the grown adult that I am now.

I am currently majoring in telecommunications with a track in media and society. I can already tell that this class is going to be both interesting and very important as I will learn how communications vary from country to country.

Upon graduating from UF, I plan to stay in Gainesville and attend law school at UF. After graduating from law school, I plan to open up a law firm with my father with the intention of representing athletes and many others involved in the sports world.

I have many hobbies that I love to do when I'm not studying. They include: working out, playing intramurals (mostly softball and football), playing video games, blogging for my website, hanging out with my friends, biking, downloading and listening to music, browsing through videos on YouTube, and watching TV. Most of my interests are in anything sports-related. I am an avid sports fan and am usually on top of everything that is going on in the sports realm.

The final item I will share is the link to my website: http://www.zackknowssports.com/. It is probably the favorite of all my hobbies and I am very proud of the progress it has made in its year and a half of existence!