[olavk]

In my anecdotal experience, people in Eastern Europe (former Warsaw Pact countries) are extremely cynical towards politicians and the political system while Scandinavians in general have a lot of trust in the system even if they mistrust some individual politicians.

In the approach towards regulation, I think the major difference compared to the US is that Europeans mistrust businesses just as much as politicians. GDPR is a result of mistrust in businesses. Stating that politicians are corrupt, as Americans are wont to do, is not really an argument against regulation like GDPR unless you believe businesses never act against the interests of the public.