What impact did the Reagan presidency have on the USA in the years 1981–96?

Question 1

What were Reagans 4 key aims (economics) (4)

Answer 1

-Lowering tax would encourage consumption and hard work
-Reduce the size/role of federal government, cutting $40 billion from the 1981/82 $740 billion budget, and eliminating the welfare state where possible
-Deregulation of state/federal government requirements would allow affluence to flourish
-Increase cold war defences

Question 2

How did Reagan deregulate the economy/balance the budget (economics) (2,3,2)

Answer 2

-Regulation of industry/business cut 29%
-Reagan made sure to use his power to appoint people to regulatory boards such as the occupational health and safety administration, which would make pro business choices

-In 1983, Reagan inspired congress to ->
-Tax social security benefits
-Delay cost of living increases

-Increased defence spending from $157.5 billion in 1981 to $202.6 billion in 1989 led to the budget deficit soaring
-National debt tripled to $2.6 trillion, as borrowing increased from abroad from places such as Japan and Germany

Question 3

What did Reagan cut in the 1981 budget, and how did he get support for this (economics) (3,5)

Answer 3

-Cuts were made in the funding of 212 federal programmes
-Most of these federal programmes aided the working poor, including food stamps and student loans
-$280 billion worth of individual and corporate tax cuts (ERTA)

-Reagan knew exactly what he wanted from the off, not confusing anyone
-Reagan worked well with the democrat congress, putting pressure on congressmen through TV ads, thus being able to get his policies through
-High poll ratings (68%) following a failed assassination attempt (march 1981) forced congress to work with him
-He put his full weight behind this budget, frequently appearing on TV
-Reagan made a hefty effort to get media support on his side

Question 4

What is Reaganomics (economics) (2,5)

Answer 4

-Reaganomics aimed to control government spending, reduce government involvement and cut taxes
-Reaganomics focused on economic growth rather than low unemployment, favouring classical rather than Keynesian economics

-Lower tax = increased incomes = increased spending
-Increased spending = increased revenue = increased investment
-Increased investment = increased output
-Increased output = increased incomes/profit = increased tax revenue = decreased deficit
-Increased output = increased incomes = increased spending

Question 5

What was some economic legislation passed in 1981 (economics) (2,2)

Answer 5

-August 13th 1981 = Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA)
-Reduced marginal income tax bands 23% over 3 years (70-50%, 14-11%), linked tax bands to inflation and offered other minor incentives

-August 13th 1981 = Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA)
-Made $35 billion worth of federal spending budget cuts, as well as tax cuts, although it was originally planned to be $45 billion

Question 6

What was some of Reagans economics legislation from 1982-1986 (economics) (3,3,3)

Answer 6

-September 1982 = Tax Equity and Financial Responsibility Act (TEFRA)
-Made budget changes in response to the negative economic situation, tightening business tax rates
-Temporarily raised taxes on cigarettes and telephone services

-April 1986 = Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
-Revised the budget in many minor ways, to save the government money and increase the size of the private sector
-Significantly, shifted the responsibility of many healthcare payments from the government to the employer

-October 1986 = Tax Reform Act (TRA)
-Revises the tax codes, reducing the number of brackets
-Supposed to close a lot of loopholes and ease pressure on poorer families

Question 7

How did Reagans economic policies impact inflation, unemployment and personal wealth (economics) (2,2,4)

Answer 7

-Inflation fell from 13% in 1980 to 6.2% in 1982
-However, sharp rises in interest rates had negative impact on industries which relied on credit

-Unemployment rates went from 11% in 1981 to 7.5% in 1983 to 4.5% in 1989
-7 million new jobs were created

-Disinflation, tax cuts and deregulation made people richer, mostly the rich richer
-Average family income levels fell, returning to 1973 levels in 1987
-Wages stagnated, negatively affecting lower/middle classes
-Child poverty rates rose to levels exceeding the mid 60s

Question 8

What were the pros and cons of Reagans policies to encourage saving and investment, and to reduce the deficit (economics) (4,4)

Answer 8

+Businesses began to recover and invest more
+Recovery from 1982 and 1987 recessions rapid, as people still lent/spent
-People lost all savings in the 1987 Savings and Loans crisis
-Higher deregulation lead to higher competition, leading firms to take higher risks

+Balanced budget following the 1991 collapse of the USSR
+Conservatives claimed it was a wartime deficit, worth it with the victory in the cold war
-Budget deficit rose, due to the cut taxes, even though supply side didn’t work and fewer welfare costs happened than anticipated
-Budget deficit grew increasingly funded by borrowing from abroad

Question 9

What was Reagans economic legacy (economics) (2,5)

Answer 9

-When Bush took office in 1989, he faced a budget deficit which had tripled under Reagan
-Bush was forced to pass the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation act, cutting government expenditure and raising taxes

-Clinton was a third way politician, in which he and the Democratic Leadership Council aimed to win back while middle class voters
-Clinton raised taxes on the rich and cut spending on the poor
-By 1999, the 1992 $290 billion deficit had been turned to a $124 billion surplus
-The economy was booming, encouraged by low interest, unemployment and low regulation
-From 1981-96, the economy grew by 2.5% per annum, growing in all years bar 1991

Question 10

How was 1930-1980 the era of big government, and why was Reagan’s election a turning point (big government) (4,4)

Answer 10

-From FDR to Reagan was the era of big government in US politics
-Government would be active to help the disadvantaged with healthy educational and equality issues
-In the 1950s, Eisenhower thought it unwise to oppose this idea
-In 1964, Barry Goldwaters aggressive approach to big government lead to his crushing defeat

-However, the rise of the new right and failings of the 70s paved the way for a new era of government
-The four previous presidents had failed, and there was increasing distrust within the presidency
-Reagan was as right wing as Goldwater, but more politically skilled
-Many felt alienated by the great society, rising welfare costs and affirmative action

Question 11

What arguments are there for/against reducing big government (big government) (1,2,4)

Answer 11

-Reducing big government included reducing federal legislation, federal agencies, federal taxation and spending, as well as reducing supreme court rulings ad deregulating

+“For government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem”
+New federalism would lead to reduced state interference and regulation on state and local affairs, businesses and finances

-Government would have less control over businesses greed and expansion
-Less social welfare provided by government
-Less control over imports
-Less funding for state and local government projects

Question 12

What were the successes of Reagan’s attempts to reduce big government (big government) (5)

Answer 12

-Reduced social security benefits
-Cuts made in the funding of 212 federal programmes, such as food stamps and student loans, most of which aided the working poor
-Slashed agency budgets, rendering them incapable of enforcing congresss’ regulations
-Reduced department for educatuion staff 25%, cut programmes and decreased education block grants to states 63%
-Devolved power to the states and appointed pro-deregulation people to regulatory boards (James G. Walt = secretary of the interior, opened up conservation lands to oil and timber companies)

Question 13

What were the failings of Reagan’s attempts to reduce big government (big government) (5)

Answer 13

-Failed to abolish the department for education, which was established by Carter in 1979
-Civilian employment in the federal government rose 3%, partially due to Reagan’s defence build-up, where employment grew 15%
-Pensions and elderly aid, veteran benefits, school lunches and head start (free school breakfasts) left virtually intact
-Reagan deregulation S&L’s and allowing them to make risky investments in 1982 led to the S&L crisis and a $132 billion public payout, the largest financial scandal in US history
-Although Reagan was able to veto the $18 billion clean water act, Congress overrode his veto of the 1987 Water quality control act, which was basically the same thing

Question 14

What were the positive and negative impacts of deregulation (big government) (4,4)

Answer 14

+Reduced the size/role of government by cutting taxes and programmes
+Halted new deal interventionism, in some cases reversing it
+Challenged assumptions about new deal thinking, and in some casesmany democrats changed their thinking (new democrats)
+Most presidents fail to make such meaningful policy change

-Did not demolish the welfare state, knew attacking social security/medicare would be political suicide
-Federal workforce demoralised and public infastructure started crumbling
-Left the budget debt in a state
-Mobilised the electorate against necessary tax

Question 15

What did Reagan do in his early tenure to reduce big government (big government) (4,5)

Answer 15

In his first days: Reagan -
-Sacked a large number of white house staff
-Introduced a hiring freeze within the white house
-Ordered government departments to undertake a number of cost cutting measures, such as reducing travel costs 15%
-However, these did little in practice, and rather just appealed to the media

-In 1982, Reagan stated how since he came to power:
-He had cut federal regulation in half, removing 23,000 pages from federal registers
-Removed federal agencies and replaced them with private sector ones
-Help reduce the cost of fuel and petrol through deregulation
-However, Reagan failed to mention how the process of deregulation was started by Carter, through his deregulation of airlines and his trucking bills

Question 16

What was some significant Reagan deregulation legislation (big government) (7)

Answer 16

-Jan 1981 = Executive order passed by Carter deregulating oil and fuel prices brought forward
-Sep 1982 = Bus regulatory reform act deregulated bus services
-Oct 1982 = Garn St Germain depository institution act deregulated Saving and Loan institutions, allowing them greater freedom to invest
-Feb 1983 = Deregulation of natural gas supplies
-March 1984 = Shipping act loosens regulation on US & foreign shipping
-Oct 1984 = Cable communications act deregulates cable communications
-Oct 1986 = Greater freedom allowed to those working in the trucking industry

Question 17

What were the positives of deregulation on businesses, banks and trade (big government) (5)

Answer 17

-Initially, deregulation brought lower prices through competition
-When S&L’s were deregulated in 1983, this allowed banks to offer savers high interest rates
-Banks and S&L’s allowed individuals who understood what the various deals were to have more saving/investment options
-Rise of foreign imports gave consumers more choice
-A weak dollar made the US an attractive place to trade/invest in

Question 18

What were the negatives of deregulation on businesses, banks and trade (big government) (9)

Answer 18

-Business health & safety standards lower than government ones
-Big businesses flourished whilst smaller businesses struggled, and many had to be bought out
-Big businesses started fixing price structures, harming the consumer

-As S&L’s started competing, they made increasingly risky investments
-These risky investments culminated in the 1987 S&L crisis, where S&L’s collapsed, forcing the government to sign the 1987 competitive equality in banking act, providing money to cover losses from S&L’s
-In 1989, Bush signed the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, costing $150 billion, bailing out failing S&L’s and setting up regulations

-From 1980-1985 250 textile factories shut down as 300,000 lost jobs
-US companies lost business and the US became a global borrower
-Many US firms were being bought out by foreign ones

Question 19

What were some of Reagan’s social policy legislation (social) (5)

Answer 19

-October 1982 Job training partnership act meant state and private firms had to provide training for their workers, but were allowed to pay below minimum wage
-April 1983 Social Security Reform Bill delayed the link of social security benefits to inflation, made benefits taxable and increased pension payments age from 65-67
-July 1987 Mckinney Act created the federal emergency food and shelter programme, ran by the federal emergency management agency
-October 1988 Family Support Act made it so families could only recieve childcare benefits if one parent worked for 16 hours, as well as it ‘made childcare available’
-By 1988, 42 states had enacted work to welfare programmes

Question 20

What were the positives and negatives in industry and production (social) (5,4)

Answer 20

+Defence sector did well, with increased government spending
+New services sector did well
+New technologies (computers) did well
+Increases in industries/sectors had a profound impact on migration
+The Bi-Coastal boom led to many moving from the centre to the west coast/NYC, in search of jobs

-Reagan put few tariffs on imports
-Many older manufacturing sectors (cars, textiles), struggled to compete with imports
-Suppliers of raw materials struggled to compete with imports
-Places like Baltimore and Cleveland, strong manufacturing sectors, experienced a decline with 20% of the population living below the poverty line

Question 20

What were some reasons why black Americans disliked the Reagan administration (social) (9)

Answer 20

-Gave a speech in New York without mentioning civil rights, than refused an offer to speak with the NAACP, as he had a holiday booked
-The leader of the KKK endorsed Reagan
-Once he was nominated as presidential candidate, he gave a speech in Mississippi, on the sight of the unresolved murder of 3 student activists, without mentioning the murder
-‘Government is the problem’ conflicted with affirmative action
-War on drugs disproportionately harmed young black men
-Black prescence still resisted in some institutions, such as white neighbourhoods
-Reagan failed to recognise Charles Pierce at a meeting, his only black cabinet member
-Inequality and wages gap remained constant during his tenure
-However, there was an increasing black middle class, and black people were increasingly getting into positions of influence

Question 21

How did Reagan impact business/farmers (social) (4,5)

Answer 21

-Deregulation allowed big businesses to be involved in mergers/acquisitions
-Deregulation allowed big businesses to increase profits through lower costs, lower wages and lower working conditions
-Many small businesses failed during the 1981-82 recession, however 1 million businesses were set up in that time
-Small businesses were hit hard by interest rate hikes, and many failed

Farmers suffered as:
-Interest rate hikes hurt farmers who depended on loans
-Bad drought in 1983 led to decreased yield
-Exports fell as the US invaded Afghanistan
-Many small farms went out of business and had to be bought by agribusinesses/big companies (in 1983, 500 farms were sold weekly)
-In 1986, the Save Our Family Farm coalition was created, campaigning against big businesses in farming

Question 22

What impact did Reagan’s social policies have on living/working conditions and minorities (social) (5,4)

Answer 22

-Rising interest rates led to 30% more mortgage debt from 1980-87
-Single mothers struggled, since the only jobs allowing childcare time were typically low paid, low quality jobs
-Young workers struggled, since a two-tier wage structure came about, where young workers did the same work for less
-Part time/temporary workers were not eligible for benefits
-Weekly leisure time fell from 26 hours in 1973 to 16 in 1987

-Reagan abandoned busing and planned to shrink inner cities (this was started by Carter)
-Reagan withdrew 40% of funding for bilingual education
-Reagan was lukewarm about womens rights, the ERA and anti-abortion, although he appointed Sandra Day O Connor to the supreme court
-Many accused Reagan for ignoring aids/gay rights, until it affected people he knew personally

Question 23

What was the effect of Reagan’s policies on welfare provision (social) (8)

Answer 23

-Reagan saw a difference between ‘working poor’ and ‘welfare scroungers’
-The idea behind workfare was to have one working parent before family benefits were eligible
-The problem with this idea is jobs paid below minimum wage, and yet families got no childcare even though the government promised it
-Reagan slashed funding for low cost housing from $32 billion in 1978 to $9.2 billion in 1988
-By 1985, 3.5 million families qualified for low cost housing, but couldn’t move into these, since none were available
-In 1984 there was $300 million of federal homeless funding, however this had risen to $1.6 billion by 1988
-1987 Mckinney act set up the federal emergency food and shelter programmes
-These programmes prioritised elderly, disabled, veterans and family with children

Question 24

How did Reagan impact the rich and poor (social) (6)

Answer 24

-Gap widened as average income of poorest fell $1300
-Top 1% earned 8% of national income in 1980, but 15% of NI in 1990
-Homelessness doubled from 200,000 to 400,000
-Only western developed nation without universal health coverage
-Individualism and conservatism remained strong, social change to help less fortunate was difficult to create and sustain, in society and politics
-Real estate tycoons got rich through low taxes and abandonment of anti-trust laws/regulations (trusts were large companies which controled suppliers, manufacturers and prices to gurarantee profits)

Question 25

How did Reagan impact the judiciary (social) (6)

Answer 25

-Reagan’s power to nominate federal judiciaries (68 US appeal, 9 Supreme court, 600 federal district) was an important tool to ensure conservative rulings
-3/4 of the federal judiciary was conservative by 1992
-Reagan selected 3 associate judges, a chief judge and 200 federal court judges
-Reagan appointed the first women supreme court justice (Sandra Day O’Connor), her pro-abortion stance hurting the religious right
-After 1984, a majority conservative supreme court upheld a raft of new state capital punishment statutes, permitted the introduction of illegally seized information and made a number of abortion hindering rulings
-The supreme court was unwilling to dismantle the church-state separation, nor did it overturn Roe vs Wade

Question 26

What was Reagan’s war on drugs (social) (6)

Answer 26

-There was widespread drug use, as 40 million people took drugs as the crack epidemic spread through minority communities
-Conservative American’s blamed social disorder and great society liberalism, liberals blamed poverty
-Nancy Reagan launched the ‘just say no’ campaign, although this was focused on apprehending/punishing the crime, rather than rehabilitating/preventing poverty
-The war on drugs cost $15 billion annually, however it was hard to stop banks laundering money, due to deregulation
-The war on drugs increased the number of incarcerated Americans, with 60% of prisoners being drug-related
-The sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine exacerbated racial profiling, as 1/2 of those arrested for drug offences were black/hispanic

Question 27

How did family values change under Reagan (social) (6)

Answer 27

-Conservatives were alarmed with the increasing trends of divorce, teen pregnancy and women in work
-Reagan was a devout Christian, wanting to ban abortion and restore prayer in schools
-However, congress did not agree with what Reagan did
-Conservatives were still significantly homophobic, a 1986 supreme court ruling upholding the criminalisation of sodomy
-Reagan outlawed Medicaid funded abortion for poor women
-Reagan didn’t advocate for the use of condoms and was criticised to be slow to speak up about the AIDS pandemic

Question 28

How did women change socially under Reagan (social) (8)

Answer 28

-Women earned 62% of what men did in 1980, this rising to 72% in 1990
-Despite Roe vs Wade not being overturned, anti-abortion sentiment remained strong
-from 1988-89, anti abortion protestors were arrested for bombing medical centres
-Equal Rights Amendment defeated in 1982
-In 1988, federally funded planning centres were banned from talking about abortion, 1988 Bowen vs Kendrick ruling denying federal funding to pro-choice programmes
-Beverley La Haye’s conservative ‘concerned women for America’ movement had 500,000 members, more than the NOW
-Deep divisions between women represented the polarisation of social change
-Womens liberal movement went quiet

Question 29

How did Reagan socially impact black people (social) (10)

Answer 29

-Reagan opposed the civil rights act and voting rights act
-“If a someone doesn’t want to rent their house to a black person, they’re within their rights.”
-Reagan refused to meet the NAACP in 1982, as he was horse-riding
-Reagan vetoed the 1988 Civil Rights Restoration Act, which aimed to undo previous supreme court rulings limiting anti-discrimination laws, but congress overturned the veto
-Reagan did nothing to support inner cities, and supported the end of busing
-Only 7/368 federal court judges appointed were black
-He wanted tax exempt status restored for segregated private schools
-Black mayors were elected in NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia
-There was an increasing black middle class, helped by the 1982 extensions to the VRA
-Hispanic representation increased in all forms of government

Question 30

Why was politics in crisis in the 70s, and why was Reagan well placed to be a more successful president (politics) (4,4)

Answer 30

-Confidence in the presidency/politics was at an all time low
-Congress feared an imperial presidency, and thus were harder to manage
-The previous 4 presidents were all failures (Vietnam, Watergate, incompetence, economic crisis)
-In 1979, only 29% of Americans said they had confidence in politics

-Since it was a time of crisis, Americans were more likely to trust/follow their president
-Poll rating were particularly high (CBS = 67%, Gallup = 68%) following a failed assassination attempt in march 1981, making congress more likely to cooperate
-Reagan was the ‘Great communicator’, being both persuasive and willing to bargain
-Reagan had a pleasant/likeable character, and had good relations with individuals within congress

Question 31

What was the Iran-contra scandal and the Tower commission (politics) (3,2,2)

Answer 31

-In November 1986, it was rumoured Reagan had covertly shipped arms to Iran, to get hostages held in Lebanon released, diverting profits to Nicaraguan contra
-This was shocking, since Iran was an enemy, and the president couldn’t make weapon sales or central American intervention without congressional assent
-Reagan’s approval ratings fell from 66% to 44%, as hostile journalists took the opportunity to attack the president

-In 1987, the Tower Commission concluded by violating the US embargo on weapon sales, Reagan policy statements couldn’t’ve been trusted
-The commission criticised his delegatory management style as inadequate, but wrongly concluded Reagan did not know about funds being used to fund the the contra

-However, the booming economy/Cold War end kept Reagan in office
-If it was known that Reagan authorised what he did, he could’ve been impeached

Question 32

How did Reagan revitalise politics/the presidency (politics) (10)

Answer 32

-Looked and played the part of a successful president
-Changed the opinion of the public/media/parties on the role of the government
-Convinced the people the structure of government was fine, it just needed the right people
-Was able to unite a lot of Republicans/democrats, allowing for his early legislation
-Republican success forced the Democrats to regroup and revitalise
-The ‘New Democrats’, such as Clinton, were more fiscally conservative
-Clinton’s 1992 ‘New Covenant’ offered to replace not working programmes, similar to Reagan
-Big businesses were brought back into politics
-Businesses were bigger and influenced politics through sponsoring
-The Christian right became more outspoken and involved in political issues under Reagan

Question 33

How did Reagan not revitalise politics & the presidency (politics) (1,1,2,3,3)

Answer 33

-Iran-Contra affair damaged presidential ratings, as Gallup poll ratings fell to 49%

-Some said Reagan didn’t do enough to change Republican politics, rather just capitalising on democrat mistakes

-A large proportion of the population were closer to liberal ideas than Republicans would’ve wanted
-Most people still prefer the idea of the American dream to big business domination

-The first prediential TV debate in 1960 had 70 million viewers
-Despite TV ownership rising since, presidential TV debate viewing fell
-1980 = 80.6 mill, 1984 = 67.5 mill, 1988 = 65.1 mill , 1996 = 36.3 mill

-Initial success with congress over economic legislation not repeated
-Social issues (busing) and big government legislation frequently overturned by congress
-Bush and Clinton struggled to work with congress

Question 34

How was the economy after Reagan (legacy) (1,3,2,3)

Answer 34

-Reagan bequeathed significant economic problems to his successor

-When Bush took over, he promised to take care of the budget deficit, which had reached $2.7trillion
-Bush failed, as the deficit reached $4 trillion by 1993
-Despite promising not to raise taxes, Bush was forced to raise taxes in November 1990

-One of the reasons Bush lost the 1992 election was the 1990 recession, a legacy of Reagans
-Massive federal deficit, trade imbalances, loan bailouts and a lack of policy

-Clinton was a leading new democrat, one of his election points on fiscal conservatism, a legacy of Reagan’s
-After a shaky start, Clinton achieved a balanced budget, as he cut defence spending and increased tax on the rich, whilst keeping most social programmes
-By 1996, the economy was booming with new democrat clinton

Question 35

How was big government after Reagan (legacy) (7)

Answer 35

-Even the democrats had to accept the era of big government was over, Clinton arguing he would “end welfare as we know it”
-Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform act had brutal provisions
-Passed by a republican congress, the welfare reform act: denied benefits to immigrants, limited eligibility for medicaid and food stamps for those who didn’t find work and eliminated the lifetime guarantee of government support to poor mums
-Welfare rolls (number of people on welfare) halved since people earned more money
-Workforce participation amongst the poorest women rose from 35% to 55% in 3 years
-Clinton removed the disincentives to marry with only single mum benefits
-The welfare reform act was an example of Reagans legacy, and it led to the rejection of Hillary Clinton’s universal health insurance

Question 36

How was the presidency/politics after Reagan (legacy) (2,2)

Answer 36

-George H. W. Bush seemed to lack charisma, and was unable to cope with many domestic problems
-Clinton had charisma, but was dogged by several sex scandals, and thus neither president can be said to have represented a vitalised presidency

-There was a rise in partisanship after Reagan
-There were extremists on both sides, encouraged by a voracious press, keen on scandals

Question 37

What was abortion, homosexuality and permisiveness like after Reagan (legacy) (4,1,2)

Answer 37

Abortion:
-The extent of conservative opposition was great, with little advancement
-The composition of the supreme court was crucial for decisions on the ease of access, such as 1988 Bowen vs Kendrick denying federal funding to pro choice programmes
-Reagan’s Sandra Day O’Connor argued women who were victims of abuse would have good reasons not to tell husbands about abortion
-Clinton countered Reaganism over abortion, nominating 2 liberals to the supreme court, restoring federally funded clinics and reversing Bush’s stopping of federal doctors advising abortion

Homosexuality:
-Bush and Clinton were relatively liberal, but nothing much changed (don’t ask don’t tell in army)

Permissiveness:
-Clintons sex scandals (Lewinsky affair) were good illustrations of the debates between social conservatives and liberals
-Despite the scandals, Clinton left office with 66% approval ratings, highest since FDR

Question 38

How were minorities after Reagan (legacy) (11)

Answer 38

-There were limits to the extent of social change in regard to race
-Number of black congressmen increased from 45in 1990 to 69 in 1992 (17 hispanic congressmen then too)
-There were a disproportionate number of black/hispanic people in jail
-Conservatives blamed the jail numbers on crime, whereas liberals blamed unemployment and poor education
-In 1990, the supreme court ruled that employers could deny access to peyote users (peyote = native american substance)
-1/4 of black, hispanic and native americans were below the poverty line, as their incomes were half that of the national average
-Black and hispanic middle classes grew, much owing to government affirmative action
-The supreme court limited the extent of affirmative action, but congress responded with a civil rights bill
-By 1992, 1/2 of black americans lived in white areas, as interracial relationships also grew
-9% of black americans lived in impoverished ghettos, and the use of segregated schools rose (55 of hispanics in segregated schools in 1968 -> 74% in 1995)
-Reagan made derogatory comments about ‘inferior’ native american culture

Question 39

How were women after Reagan (legacy) (6)

Answer 39

-By 1996, womens reproductive rights remained under frequent attack
-Womens economic state was improving, but still remained inferior to mens
-Bush’s nomination of Clarence Thomas to the supreme court was a turning point, as women started standing up against the alleged sexual harrasser
-In 1992, there were 28 women in the house of representatives, and 2 senators
-By 1993 this had risen to 47 women in the house and 7 senators
-An unprecedented number of women stood for local, state and national office, prompted by Thomas

Question 40

What were conclusions about the extent of social change under Reagan (legacy) (5)

Answer 40

-Reagan and the religious right tried to turn the clock back to a time when abortion was illegal, homosexuality quiet, women in the home, and affirmative action unheard of
-Politically, Reagan wanted a more pre-new deal esque era
-Reagan and his religious right did not manage to turn the clock back, but it could be argued they slowed it
-They strengthened conservatism, but were unable to silence homosexuals, feminists and ethnic minorities
-

Question 41

How was Reagan influential/not influential (legacy) (3,5)

Answer 41

-Reagan assisted George H. W. Bush’s election
-Clinton & new democrats accepted big government era was over
-Social conservatism had some victories (supreme court abortion rulings)

-Presidency did not seem revitalised
-Increased partisanship
-Clinton’s executive orders facilitated abortion
-Clinton’s popularity demonstrated impact of sexual liberation
-Women and ethnic minorities continued their slow process towards greater equality