Period 9: 1980–Present

"The combination of deep cuts in social programs, the redirection of federal funds into block grants, and a regressive shift in tax burdens has severely harmed poor and minority citizens. The administration's policies have undermined the federal commitment to equal opportunity and social justice, leaving cities to cope with rising poverty and unemployment with fewer federal resources."

�� National Urban League, "The State of Black America," 1982

Which of the following political debates during the 1980s is most directly reflected in the criticism expressed in the excerpt?

"For the first time in history, an entire class of U.S. and Soviet nuclear missiles will be eliminated... We must also remember that the Soviet Union remains a state dedicated to Marxist-Leninist ideology... But we are seeing some changes. The policy of glasnost, or openness, and perestroika, or restructuring, have introduced new dynamics. General Secretary Gorbachev has spoken of reform, and we welcome it. Yet, the real test is whether these reforms lead to greater freedom for the Soviet people and a more peaceful Soviet foreign policy. Our strength and resolve, combined with our willingness to negotiate, have brought us to this historic moment. But the future depends on whether the Soviet Union will genuinely reform its system and respect human rights, or if it will continue its traditional expansionist path."

Source: President Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation on the Soviet-United States Summit Meeting, December 10, 1987.

Which of the following arguments about the causes of the end of the Cold War is most directly supported by the developments described in the excerpt?

"Our tax proposal is for a 25-percent across-the-board reduction in personal income tax rates over the next three years... The second part of our proposal is geared to the economy's supply side—to encouraging business investment, which in turn will create new jobs."
— President Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation on Federal Tax Reduction Legislation, July 27, 1981

Which of the following economic policies is most directly associated with the goals described in the excerpt?

"We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation that has succeeded because we have integrated those immigrants into a cohesive society. The primary instrument of that integration has been the English language. Today, however, we see a growing movement toward bilingual education and multilingual government ballots. This trend does not help immigrants transition into the American mainstream; instead, it encourages them to remain separate and retards their assimilation. If we continue on this path, we risk dividing our nation into competing linguistic and cultural groups, undermining the very unity that has made America strong."
—Adapted from testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding proposed official language legislation, 1988

The debate described in the excerpt most directly reflects which of the following conflicts in the United States during the late twentieth century?

"We stand passive in the United States Senate... We are about to vote on a unilateral declaration of war... This is a shift in our nation's historic foreign policy, moving away from deterrence and containment toward a policy of preemptive war."

— Senator Robert Byrd, speech in the United States Senate, October 2002

The shift in United States foreign policy described in the excerpt most directly resulted from which of the following?

Regional Origins of Immigrants to the United States (Selected Years)

Which of the following was a major cause of the demographic shift shown in the table?

"We should not keep teaching immigrant children in their native languages for years, separating them from their English-speaking peers. English is the language of economic opportunity and social success in the United States. Providing a structured immersion program that transitions these children to English within one school year is the best way to help them achieve the American Dream and ensure our society remains cohesive."

— Adapted from arguments in favor of California Proposition 227, 1998

The debate surrounding the ballot initiative described in the excerpt most directly reflects which of the following post-1980 cultural tensions in United States society?

“The integration of computing and telecommunications has created a global network that allows businesses to manage supply chains across multiple continents in real time. Designers in California can transmit blueprints instantly to factories in East Asia, while customer service operations are routed to South Asia. This connectivity has accelerated the movement of manufacturing jobs overseas and restructured the domestic labor market around service and information industries.”

—Adapted from a federal report on technology and trade, 2001

The developments described in the excerpt most directly contributed to which of the following economic changes in the United States during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries?

"In our country, communication between the state and society is obviously disrupted. Evidence of this is widespread apathy, retreat into the private sphere, and the mass emigration of our citizens. In other countries, people are seeking solutions to their social crises, but here, the state refuses to listen. The lack of democratic participation paralyzes the creative potential of our economy and prevents us from addressing critical environmental and social problems. We must create a public forum for democratic dialogue to discuss the future of socialism and our nation. We need open debate, freedom of association, and reforms that allow citizens to participate in the political process. Only through cooperative reform can we stabilize our country and prevent its collapse."

— Neues Forum (New Forum), founding manifesto, East Germany, September 1989

Based on the excerpt, which of the following best explains the role of internal domestic crises in the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the end of the Cold War?

���The Reagan administration’s policies did not dismantle the welfare state, but they did successfully reshape the terms of the political debate. For a generation after the New Deal, politicians of both parties accepted the expansion of federal responsibilities for social welfare and economic regulation. After 1981, the dominant political question was no longer how the federal government could solve a problem, but whether the federal government was the problem itself.”

— William C. Berman, historian, *America’s Right Turn: From Nixon to Clinton*, 1994

Which of the following actions by the Reagan administration most directly reflected the shift in the political debate described in the excerpt?

"We must write a new chapter in our economic history. Our tax system has penalized work and investment, and our regulatory system has stifled growth. By reducing tax rates across the board, we will allow individuals and businesses to keep more of their earnings, which will encourage investment, create new jobs, and stimulate production."
— President Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation on the Economy, 1981

Which of the following economic theories best describes the policy approach outlined in this excerpt?

Read the excerpt below and answer the following question:

"For years, the federal government has treated the traditional family not as the cornerstone of our society, but as an obstacle to progress. Bureaucrats in Washington have sought to displace the moral authority of parents, while inflation and high taxes have eroded the economic security of the home. We must rebuild an America where work is rewarded, government is limited to its proper constitutional functions, and the moral values that made this country great are once again respected in the public square."
—Adapted from a campaign pamphlet of the New Right coalition, 1980

Which of the following historical factors of the 1970s most directly facilitated the rise of the political movement described in the excerpt?

"The gravest danger our Nation faces lies at the crossroads of radicalism and technology. Our enemies have openly declared that they are seeking weapons of mass destruction... We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. So we must be prepared to defeat our enemies' plans before they are unleashed."
— President George W. Bush, National Security Strategy, September 2002

This excerpt best reflects which of the following shifts in United States foreign policy following the September 11 attacks?

“The proliferation of high-speed fiber-optic cables and the commercialization of the internet in the 1990s enabled corporations to divide their operations globally. Design work could happen in California, assembly could take place in Mexican or Chinese factories, and back-office administrative tasks could be handled by workers in India. This modular global network accelerated the velocity of capital and transformed corporate organization.”

Which of the following was a major economic consequence in the United States of the developments described in the passage?

“A nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. . . . We can let the jobs of tomorrow be created abroad, or we can choose to create them right here in America. We can yield the head start to other countries, or we can embrace the opportunity to lead. . . . That is why we must invest in clean energy technology, and that is why we must place a limit on the carbon pollution that threatens our planet.”

—President Barack Obama, Speech on Energy Security and Climate Change, 2009

The debate surrounding the policy goals outlined in the excerpt most directly reflects which of the following political trends in the early twenty-first century?

“In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord... The Paris Agreement handicaps the United States economy in order to win praise from the very foreign capitals and global activists that have long sought to wealth-transfer and block economic development in our country. They want to keep our coal mines open in other parts of the world, but close them here... This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States.”

— President Donald J. Trump, Speech on the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, June 1, 2017

The perspective expressed in the excerpt most directly reflects which of the following debates in twenty-first-century United States politics?

"The expansion of global fiber-optic networks and the commercialization of the internet have done for service occupations what containerization and cheap shipping did for manufacturing in the mid-twentieth century. Historically, tasks such as data entry, customer service, and software engineering required close physical proximity to a company's headquarters or customer base. Today, these information-based services can be performed anywhere on the globe and transmitted instantaneously. Consequently, American firms have increasingly offshored both white-collar and blue-collar jobs, restructuring the domestic labor force and contributing to a growing economic divide between highly skilled tech professionals and service-sector workers."
—Adapted from a sociological study on the post-industrial economy, 2005

The economic shifts described in the excerpt most directly contributed to which of the following developments in the United States during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries?

"In recent years, a new theory has gained ground—one that rejects the goal of assimilation and instead celebrates permanent ethnic separation. While we must respect and celebrate our diverse origins, we must also preserve the common language and democratic ideals that hold our society together. Without a shared commitment to these core American values, we risk the fragmentation of our nation into hostile subgroups."

— Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., historian, *The Disuniting of America*, 1991

The arguments in the excerpt most directly reflect which of the following debates in United States society during the late twentieth century?

The growth of the foreign-born population after 1980, primarily driven by immigration from Latin America and Asia, has significantly altered the demographic landscape of the United States. In cities across the Sun Belt, this influx has transformed neighborhoods, introduced new cultural traditions, and stimulated local economies. However, these changes also prompted calls for stricter border enforcement and initiated public debates over cultural assimilation and national identity.

Based on the passage, the demographic trends described most directly led to public debates over which of the following issues?

"Tonight, I propose a permanent, cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security to unite essential agencies that work to protect our country. . . . Today no single government agency has primary responsibility for security in our homeland. Indeed, as many as a hundred different government agencies have some responsibility for homeland security, and no one has primary responsibility for coordinating them. . . . We must bring them together under a single department."

— President George W. Bush, Address to the Nation, June 6, 2002

Which of the following was the primary purpose of the domestic reorganization proposed in the excerpt?