1980-Present

Question 1

Describe the emergence of The New Right. What role did religion play in this development?

Answer 1

Many Americans, especially conservatives
suburban whites, had become wary of
Great Society initiatives and the growth of
government responsibility and called for the
slashing of numerous programs to limit
government spending.
At the same time, the fusion of Christian values and the
Republican Party occurred in the 1970s, especially surrounding the issue of abortion.

Question 2

What is affirmative action?

Answer 2

the practice or policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously.

Question 3

Moral Majority

Answer 3

Political action committee founded by evangelical Reverend Jerry Falwell in 1979 to promote traditional Christian values and oppose feminism, abortion, and gay rights. The group was a major linchpin in the resurgent religious right of the 1980s.

Question 4

Roe vs Wade

Answer 4

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

Question 5

Describe the presidential
and congressional
elections of 1980.

Answer 5

Former Governor of California (and
Hollywood actor), Reagan campaigned on
the conservative values of the New Right,
winning the presidency in 1980. With the
Moral Majority’
s help, Republicans also
established a majority in the Senate for the
first time in almost 30 years.

Question 6

What was Reagan’s

economic platform?

Answer 6

Nicknamed Reaganomics, his policy held
that greater tax cuts for investors and
entrepreneurs would encourage saving and
investment, thus producing economic
benefits that would reach every level of the
economy. This directly rejected the
decades of adherence to stimulatory
practices of Keynesian economics.