American Government Unit 7

Healthy Economy

is low inflation and people can find jobs

Economy

Supply and Demand

Supply

Industries or service (like a business, like Ford)

Demand

Consumer (people)

Equilibrium

a healthy economy, when supply and demand are in sync

What are the evil twins that disrupt the Equilibrium

Inflation and Recession

Inflation

when prices go up and salaries stay the same it affects your standard of living

Hyperinflation

when Inflation has gone from bad to worse

Recession

when the economy slows down, when demand goes down, unemployment goes up

Depression

when recession has gone from bad to worse

Hamilton v Jefferson

Hamilton- Government needs to do more
Jefferson- Government needs to do less

Keynesians

Activist governmental intervention (the government needs to do more)

Activist governmental intervention

The New Deal

The New Deal

Put Keynesians idea into reality, Policy of FDR, The government was going to do more

Keynesians 2 policies

1. Fiscal Policy
2. Monetary Policy

Fiscal Policy

Government Spending, Taxes, and deficit/borrowing

In the Fiscal Policy to fix inflation the government may

- To raise taxes (less money for the people to spend)
- Government should cut its spending (less money in the system)

In the Fiscal Policy to fix recession

- Cut taxes (more money for the people to spend)
- Government should increase spending (more money in the system)

Monetarists

Limited government intervention

Monetary Policy

government less involved only sends signals), controlling the money supply and circulation, want less money in the system

Federal Reserve Board

like the central bank, decide how much money to print, banks borrow money from them, can raise interest rates - to tame inflation.

Tight Money Supply

Interest rates go down

Loose Money Supply

Interest rates go up (the U.S. right now)

Issue identification

The first of six stages in policy making, in which, some event, person, or group calls attention to a problem that needs government cation

Policy Formation

the third stage of policymaking, in which policymakers and their staff deliberate the pros and cons of different courses of action, a process that may take years to complete

Policy Adoption

The fourth stage of policymaking, which is usually fight to gain government support for a policy and demands much bargaining and compromise

Rational Model

a model that assumes that the policymakers have a clear objective and all the information needed for sound and reasoned decision, with the result being the selection of the policy alternative that offers the most efficient and effective way to achieve the desired goal

Incremental Model

A more realistic model of decision making that sees public policy as a process of making decisions at the margins of current policies by adding to or subtracting from those policies

Elite Model

The theory that public policies are made by a relatively small group of influential leaders who share common goals and points of view

Pluralist Model

a theory that attributes policy outcomes to pressures exerted by different interest groups

Regulatory policies

Protect consumers, meaning that the sellers have to be honest.

Economic Regulation

Sellers have to be honest, also the enforcement of Antitrust laws

Regulatory commission (2 things)

1. Antitrust laws
2. Deregulation and reregulation

Antitrust laws

There has to be competition in the market. No monopolies or monopolizing a sector of the economy

Deregulation

less regulation, less government involvement, Republican

Reregulation

More regulation, more government involvement, Democratic

Export

sending something out

Import

getting what you don't have

Tariff

a tax on imported goods (Goal is to save American jobs and to import less)

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

This was to protect American factories, other countires also did the same thing (this also led to or was a cause of the Great Depression)

Free trade

reduced trade walls and tariffs

National trade decificit

Importing more than you are exporting (Some people thought that tariffs would be a solution for this)

What are the 4 reasons for National Debt?

1. National Emergencies
2. Infrastructure improvements
3. Entitlement Programs
4. Greater public demands

National emergencies

Ex. Covid, stimulus checks- borrowing money to sustain the economy

Infrastructure improvements

- Building road, highways, and airports
- Not enough money coming in, can raise taxes or poll stops, but the government ends up borrowing money

Entitlement programs

- Ex. Welfare, Social Security
- Government is obligated by law to give you assistance

Greater public demands

Have expectations but no one to pay for them so the government has to provide them

Aiding the Poor

New Welfare and Social Insurance

New Welfare

- Empowered states
- End dependence
- Capping welfare costs

Social Insurance

- Social Security
- Medicare
- Medicaid

Social Security

- Right now more is going out than coming in
- Lower birth rate, so there are not enough workers contributing from the fund
- People are living longer and are taking more money out

What are 2 suggestions for the Social Security issue

1. Keep raising the age requirement
2. Reduce the amount to take out

Medicare

- Health insurance for the elderly (senior citizens) 65+
- Once you hit 65 you qualify for it, no matter what (this is why it is entitlement)

Medicaid

Health insurance for the poor and needy

What are the 2 foundations (1789-1823)

1. George Washingtons Farewell Address
2. Monroe Doctrine

George Washington's Farewell Address

(need to avoid) Alliances and Entanglement

Monroe Doctorine

Clear interest in Latin America (first sign of America becoming a great power)

Isolationism

Neutrality (America needed to maintain neutrality)

Unilateralism

Acted by itself in international affairs

Isolationism and Unilateralism are formed under whose advice?

George Washington

Expansionism

Expand American boundaries - Spanish-American war of 1898 - colonial expansion
(Founded under the Monroe Doctrine)

Interventionism

1890s and early 1900s, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican Republic in Haiti (America intervening)

America is seen as a

World leader (1914-1960)

WW1 and WW2

Change in U.S foreign policy - no return to isolationism

Cold War

Bipolar view of international alliances

What does Bipolar mean

a division of the world into 2 camps (Capitalism and Communism)

NATO (1949)

(End of) Unilateralism (it is a miliary and political alliance, an attack on one is an attack on all)

Korea (1950-1953)

- America has a military presence in South Korea to help protect from North Korea (The war in the Korean peninsula)
- America helps South Korea because they are Capitalist

What is a Proxy War?

Fighting indirectly

Cuban Missile Crisis

Hottest cold war (the closest that Russia and America actually came to fighting each other)

Containment (1960-1980)

To block soviet expansion (to prevent the spread of communism)

Vietnam

25 years (America was there) - containment

What does it mean that there was failure of containment in Vietnam

America eventually pulled out

Détente

(Aimed at) reducing tensions (with the Soviet Union to prevent another Vietnam

OPEC

Oil embargo (Not sending oil to the U.S because of supporting Israel and because Israel won. Example of an Economic impact)

Boycotting Olympic Games (1980)

- Russia in 1980 hosted the Summer Olympics
- The reason why America and its allies boycotted the Olympics in the 1980s is because Russia invaded Afghanistan
- In 1984 Russian and its allies didn’t come to the Olympics in L.A.
- This is an example of the Civil war impacting Sports

Post-Cold War era

New challenges (terrorism)

The Cold War impacted

Every way of life

The President and the White House

President can make treaties that are approved by the senate
Executive agreement is when the President can bypass the Congress, but the agreement expires when they leave office
(Formal Recognition and National Security Council are also an important part)

Formal Recognition

Recognizing and befriending other governments

National Security Council

- Made up of foreign diplomacy experts
- Advise the President of the 2 issues - Foreign and Defense policy

The Department of State

American interest abroad (To conduct diplomacy presence in America in every country there is an Embassy)

Department of Defense

To protect American Security

Intelligence agencies

help the Department of Defense

Examples of Intelligence Agencies

1. CIA
2. NSA

CIA

Central Intelligence Agencies
They send people or foot solders into other countries to get reliable information

NSA

They use technology to spy and gather information (like cells phones and the internet)

Congressional Role in Policymaking

Not one branch has all of the power, Congress controls the budget

Treaty ratification

President makes a treaty but doesn’t go into effect until it is ratified

Direct legislation

War Power Resolution

War Power Resolution

President Nixon vetoed it
Limits the President to 60 days to send troops abroad

Mass Media and Attentive Publics

Media covers international stories
People who pay attention to the news and most Americans do not do this

Role of Public Opinion

Little knowledge or interest

Little knowledge or interest means

Most Americans have little knowledge or interest
Americans do not drive policies
Does not impact American Foreign policy

Formal Recognition

Controlled by the President
(Which countries can befriend America
President can control other countries actions by threatening to no long be friends)

Foreign Aid

Marshall Plan (given to western European after WW2 for their economy to recover and to stay allies)

What are the top 3 countries to receive aid from America

1. Israel
2. Egypt
3. Colombia

Treaties

- A written commitment
- To reward a country
- To become a Best Friend of America

Convert Actions

Secret assistance (This is where the CIA comes in. Behind the scenes because not everything is done out in the open. At a certain time, people have to declassify information)

What types of weapons changed the war

Nuclear