liberal
the
left": support activist government to reform society, more gov't involvement in business, social welfare, minority rights, and increased govt spending
ex: New Deal, Great Society
conservative
the
right": support limited government involvement to protect freedom, favor more local, limited government, less government regulations, traditional values;
tough on criminals
entitlement programs
government programs
--such as Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid--that guarantees and provides
benefits to a specific group;
the cost of these programs and stories of fraudulently-obtained benefits
caused resentment in the conservative movement
New Right
conservative movement
of the 1980s concerned with cultural, moral and social issues. They wanted to
reduce the size of the federal government
and reduce spending, promote
family values
and patriotic ideals,
stimulate business by reducing government regula
affirmative action
policy that seeks to correct the effects of past discrimination
by favoring the groups who were previously disadvantaged. Many in the
New Right criticized this policy as a form of reverse discrimination
(favoring one racial group over another in jobs and
conservative Coalition
an alliance formed in the mid-60s of
right-wing groups opposed to big government:
business leaders, middle-class voters, disaffected Democrats, fundamentalist Christians
Moral Majority
Religious Right" movement (part of the conservative coalition) begun in the early 1980's among religious conservatives that supported primarily conservative Republicans opposed to abortion, communism and liberalism.
Ronald Reagan
Champion of the conservatives who won the governorship of California in 1966 and later became president in 1981. He believed in
supply-side economics, a strong military and smaller government.
Many credit him with helping to
end the Cold War.
Also was pre
1976 Republican Convention Speech
Reagan's narrowly lost the Republican primary to President Ford and made a
concession speech
that
emphasized the dangers of nuclear war and the threat posed by the Soviet Union.
Though he
lost the nomination, he captured the interest of conservative Repub
1980 election
Reagan
soundly defeated incumbent Carter, a
strong victory for his conservative agenda.
Carter was unpopular due to economic problems, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran hostage crisis. Republicans also gained control of the Senate,
ending th
Reaganomics
the economic policies of Ronald Reagan, which were focused on budget cuts and granting large tax cuts in order to increase private investment; critics said the policies favored the wealthy, mocking the idea that money would "trickle down" from the rich, e
supply side economics
An economic philosophy: sharply cutting taxes will increase the incentive people have to work, save, and invest. Greater investments (economic supply) will lead to more jobs, a more productive economy, and more tax revenues for the government.
Laffer Curve
A relationship between the tax rates and tax revenue that illustrates that high tax rates could lead to lower tax revenues is economic activity is severely discouraged. Reaganomics is based on this idea.
defense spending
government spending for military
armaments, equipment, and personnel. The Strategic Defense Initiative (
SDI or "Star Wars"
) was Reagan's
missile defense program.
This increased during the
Reagan
Administration which contributed to a
national debt.
Conservative court
conservative shift of the Supreme Court
due to the
appointments of 5 conservative justices
by Reagan and Bush.
deregulation
policy to
cutting back federal regulation of industry;
Reagan wanted __________________ in the areas of finance, agriculture, and transportation.
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Immune system disease
caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV)
which over a period of years
weakens the immune system to fight off infection, which can be deadly
abortion rights
Pro-Choice":
Campaign
protecting the right of women to choose abortion in Roe v. Wade;
these are
opposed by many fundamentalist Christians who call themselves Pro-Life
Webster v. Reproductive Health Care Services (1989)
gave
states more power to regulate abortion;
this restricted abortion rights but did not overturn Roe v. Wade
partial-birth abortion
a late-term abortion medical procedure where a
partially deliverable fetus is aborted;
Nebraska tried to make this illegal but the
Supreme Court upheld the legality of the procedure in Stenberg v. Carhart
A Nation at Risk
1983; report that revealed
American students fell behind
students in other industrialized nations;
started debate over the quality of education
welfare
Government aid to the poor
through programs in public health and public housing and pensions and unemployment compensation etc.; Reagan cut spending in these programs
1984 Election
Reagan wins
over Democrat nominee Mondale by emphasizing the gains in the
economy;
Mondale
1st to ever choose a woman VP nominee Ferraro
Geraldine Ferraro
In
1984 she was the first woman to appear on a major-party presidential ticket.
She was a congresswoman running for
Vice President with Walter Modale.
1988 Election
VP George WH
Bush defeated Michael Dukakis
with 56% of the vote; winning 40 out of the 50 states;
"Read my lips: no new taxes.
pay equity
means of
eliminating sex and race discrimination in the wage-setting system.
Many women and people of color are still segregated into a small number of jobs such as clerical, service workers, nurses and teachers.
gambling
play games of chance for money; Indian reservations used their sovereignty to set up casinos
Mikhail Gorbachev
Soviet leader that saw
improved relations with Reagan,
instituted
glasnost and perestroika
which helped lead to the
downfall of the Soviet Union
collapse of the Soviet Union
a gradual process while
Gorbachev
was the leader in which many
republics of the Soviet Union declared their independence; ended the Cold War
Tiananmen Square
1989, Site in Beijing where
Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness from the Communist government.
The demonstration was
crushed by Chinese military
with great loss of life. Censorship was imposed and repressive policies
Nicaraguan Civil War
The Sandinista government replaced a dictatorship in
Nicaragua in 1979,
but the
United States feared that the Sandinistas were moving toward communism. The CIA trained,
armed, and funded
counter-revolutionaries called the Contras
in an attempt to take dow
Contras
rebel groups that were active from 1979 through to the early 1990s in
opposition to the Sandinista
government in Nicaragua. After
US support was banned by Congress, the Reagan administration covertly continued it.
These covert activities culminated in the
Iran Contra Scandal
Although
Congress had prohibited aid to the Nicaraguan Contras,
individuals in
Reagan's administration continued to illegally support the rebels.
These officials
secretly sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostage
s being held in
Grenada
A tiny
Caribbean island seized by a radical military
council in 1983, which
Reagan ordered the U.S. military to reclaim
-a quick action that made him appear decisive and gained much
popular support
from both Americans and Grenadans.
Invasion of Panama
Operation Just Cause under President
Bush; overthrew drug-trafficker Manuel Noriega;
showed continued influence of US in Latin American countries
Persian Gulf War
Conflict between Iraq and a
coalition of countries led by the United States to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait
, which they had invaded in hopes of controlling their oil supply. A very one sided war with the United States'
coalition emerging victorious.
Saddam Hussein
Iraqi dictator
in power through the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and the first Persian Gulf War (1991). He
repressed movements he deemed threatening to the stability of Iraq,
particularly Shi'a and Kurdish movements seeking to overthrow the government or gai
Operation Desert Storm
Saddam
Hussein (Iraq) invaded the oil rich country of Kuwait. President Bush (41) organized a US led coalition
to drive Iraq out of Kuwait by military force. Started January 16, 1991.
L. Douglas Wilder
First African American elected governor
of a state, Virginia
Jesse Jackson
A
black candidate
for the Democratic nomination in the
1988 election
who attempted to appeal to minorities
("Rainbow Coalition"),
but eventually
lost the nomination to Michael Dukakis
Lauro Cavazos
U.S. educator and politician
appointed by Reagan and served as Secretary of Education,
and was the
first Hispanic
to serve in the
United States Cabinet
Antonia Coello Novello
First Hispanic and first female surgeon general,
appointed by
Bush
Sr. in 1990.
glasnost
A Soviet policy of
openness to the free flow of ideas
and information, introduced in 1985 by Mikhail
Gorbachev.
perestroika
Restructuring," a policy initiated by Mikhail
Gorbachev
that involved
restructuring of the social and economic
status quo in communist Russia
towards a market based economy
and society
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)
Treaty between
Reagan and Gorbachev
to
reduce nuclear weapons
Teflon" president
a
nickname for Ronald Reagan
which reflected on how a numerous
scandals surrounding his presidency seemed to have no effect on his individual popularity
with the public
Sandinistas
Dictatorship that took over
Nicaragua, tried to install a socialist economy,
and fought against the Contras; lost national elections in 1990
Kuwait oil fires
caused by
Iraqi military forces setting fire to a hundreds of oil wells in Kuwait while retreating from Coalition forces
led by the US; biggest act of
environmental terrorism
in history
Norman Schwarzkopf
Commanded
the US led
Coalition forces
during Operation
Desert Storm
Colin Powell
Colin Powell was an American military
general
and
leader during the Persian Gulf War.
He played a crucial role in
planning and attaining America's victory in the Persian Gulf and Panama
. He was also the first black four star general and
chairman of the J