3/11 and 9.2
9.2 Daily Video 1 on AP Classroom (Student watch on their own later)
Period 9: 1980-Present, Topic 2- Reagan and Conservatism
Student learning objective- Explain the causes and effects of continuing policy debates about the role of the federal government over time.
“In the 1980s, conservatives succeeded in remaking large parts of American life. They reshaped American politics, working an alchemy that transmuted [changed] conservative dogma—on the wisdom of low income taxes, the special virtue of entrepreneurs, the parasitic character of government, the need for overwhelming . . . military strength, the dependence of social health on proper values, and the nuclear family as the building block of society—into common sense. Reagan and his followers scored many victories . . . in the U.S. political system during the 1980s. Along the way, they shifted the American political debate onto Reagan’s chosen terrain. . . .
“. . . Conservatives framed public debates in the 1980s, making the era’s politics theirs, as liberals had done in the 1930s and 1960s. The influential and powerful members of the country’s major institutions were profoundly affected by Reaganism. . . . Political sages arrived at a new consensus that America was ‘naturally’ a conservative country.”
“Like other conservative triumphs, . . . Reagan’s election proved that politics and ideology matter in determining who gets what and why. But so does the economy. . . . Intense social, cultural, and racial conflicts moved American presidential politics to the populist right after the late sixties, caused by a crisis that liberalism could not resolve or transcend. It was, however, the presence of persistent inflation and the changes wrought at home by the process of globalization that exacerbated those conflicts and elected Ronald Reagan in 1980. Social issues helped Reagan win a landslide victory in 1984, but it was a downturn in the inflation rate and an upturn in the economy that clinched his reelection. . . .
“. . . When Reagan ran for the White House in 1980, he promised the American people jobs and prosperity via supply-side economics. . . . But eventually the bill for Reaganomics came due, amounting to trillions of dollars in new governmental, corporate, and consumer debt, along with a massive increase in the federal deficit. Reagan’s huge spending programs and tax cuts locked the Democrats into playing the politics of [fiscal] austerity. Afraid of the voter’s wrath, they could ill afford to be seen as ‘tax and spend’ Democrats.”
Discussion Question #1- Do both the Rossinow and Berman excerpts agree that conservatism went beyond Reagan in the 1980's or do they agree it was limited to the Reagan administration?
Discussion Question #2- What claim about politics would you say is supported by both the Rossinow and Berman excerpts?
Discussion Question #3- What is a difference between the Rossinow and Berman excerpts?
Discussion Question #4- What did conservatives think should be done about defense spending in the 1980's? Was it time to cut back or was it time to continue to advance?
Did you learn the goals of Reaganomics from the excerpts?
______________ cuts
______________ cuts
Increased ______________ spending
Who voted Reagan that would not normally vote Republican?
What does this compare to in an earlier time period?
What does this compare to afterward?
Who else voted for Reagan and GHW Bush and why?
What do you think of GHW Bush's promise?
What did it cause?
What is Bush's legacy?
Revisit- Student learning objective- Explain the causes and effects of continuing policy debates about the role of the federal government over time.
HW- Read the 1980-1992 chapter of the American Pageant. The 1980-1992 Quiz is Friday, March 15.
The pdf is available on the google classroom post for 3/8. Let me know if you would like a print out!!!
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