La police , le gouvernement , et l'injustice sont très présents dans les listes américaines , tandis que dans les listes françaises les thèmes récurrents sont pouvoir, respect, pouvoir hiérarchique , et répression . Ce qui en ressort c'est que la société américaine est très judiciarisée , alors que la liste française fait ressortir une haine de l'Etat latente .

Many of the American responses involved established organizations of society, such as the 'police' and the 'government', whereas the French associated with more abstract ideas, such as 'pouvoir', 'hièrarchie' and 'justice'. However, I feel that that is the case, because Americans often refer to the police as the 'authorities' and thus the word will therefore be more likely to be linked with law enforcement. Whereas, I assume the French generally use the word in a more abstract sense on a day to day basis. Please fill me in if you know.

Reading your commentary i wonder if the police is the only symbol of authority in America.If the answer is positive what about the federal state or th state government , don't they have any authority ?

Francois, the police is not the only symbol of authority in America. Certainly the federal government also represents authority, especially such organs as the IRS (they collect taxes), the FBI, and the courts. However, when people think of the word "government," they usually think of the president and of Congress. And they, after years of various scandals and embarassment, have lost the respect of many people. Clinton and Bush especially are simply a joke to some.