I found myself trying to answer this question a lot in the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses. The whole concept can be pretty hard to explain to an American voter let alone a foreigner. Often, my explanations were met with blanks stares or questioning glances. To be honest I managed to confuse myself at times.

You might be wondering what I was attempting to accomplish by explaining Iowa’s old-school election rules to people who won’t even be able to vote when November finally rolls around. No, I wasn’t circumnavigating the globe trying to have a sit down with Osama Bin Laden. But I was studying abroad at the University of Oxford in Great Britain.

Oxford among many other things is one of the finest educational establishments in the world. In England, the school has a reputation for churning out future political leaders the way Mariah Carey churns out number 1 singles. So it wasn’t exactly surprising to find that the average student took an avid interest in America’s elections. Some students even wore t-shirts with their favorite candidate’s logo proudly displayed while the Oxford Union hosted a mock Democratic caucus.

But what did surprise me was the overall level of fascination gripping all of England and greater Europe when it came to choosing the next US President. To foreigners, the American election is truly an event of gigantic proportions. Like all other things American from super-size combo meals to Hollywood action movies the 08 election is seen as a fascinating and sometimes frustrating narrative that only Americans are capable of producing.

As foreign correspondents trudged through snowy Iowa and then followed the candidates through New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, etc… the world was captivated. Every day the clerk bagging my groceries would ask the same question: “Who’s winning today: Clinton or Obama?” In France a homeless man recognized my American accent and launched into a 5 minute tirade regarding the state of America’s political system.

In truth, watching the whole process from afar was frustrating at times. When you care about your country and you have strong opinions about its future direction it can be hard to be thousands of miles away. But I also received a chance to step away from all the dirty politics, thousands of campaign flyers, and mudslinging commercials. I was given an opportunity to view our electoral process from a more international perspective.

This is the perspective that I hope to bring to my reporting as I head to Indianapolis for the summer and then to Indiana University in Bloomington for the school year. Using my skills as a journalism and political science major I hope to bring to life the values of the Hoosier state while remembering that the decisions we make have vast ramifications. I hope you’ll check out the work done by the prior Indiana correspondent and feel free to leave comments and suggestions as I continue to post.