American's = America?

Americans and America are two totally different things. Although the government leaders are voted on by the American public, the views and actions of the government are usually very different than most of the American people. I believe a major reason for this is that the American public does not feel the need to be educated on what their own government is doing. American's vote, and then after the people in power are set, they sit back, forget about the government's worries, and let the government do the thinking for them. Because of this, the American government acts on behalf of the people, but the people do not know what these acts are. If you ask most Americans what America is doing around the rest of the world, they will only have a small idea, and most would not care to find out much more.
America and Americans could easily become much more unified, but Americans need to work towards being involved in what the government is doing more so than the current level of involvement.
From reading this book, I got the feeling that mostly everyone outside of the U.S. refers to America and Americans as two different things. I thought it was interesting that Americans seem to be the only ones who do not. I also found it interesting that some foreigners would say they dislike the American government, but would love to live in America.