History 474B

Devine

Spring 2008

 

Study Questions for Ehrman and Collins Reading

 

 

John Ehrman, The Eighties

 

Chapter 4

 

  1. How did Reagan’s new Chief of Staff, Donald Regan, reveal the flaws in Reagan’s management style?  Why did Regan prove a poor advisor to the President?

 

  1. Why does the author criticize the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman)?  If the Reagan Administration and most Congressmen didn’t like the bill, why did it become law?

 

  1. The deficit issue was never effectively confronted during the 1980s. Who, if anyone, was to blame for this?

 

  1. What did the Tax Reform law of 1986 do?  Why was it significant not only with regard to tax policy, but also, more broadly, what did it reveal about the health of the American political system?

 

  1. What was the Iran-Contra scandal?  Why did it happen? Why did it damage Reagan’s credibility?

 

  1. Why did Congress reject Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court?  According to the author, why did the successful attack on Bork leave “a poisonous political legacy that still affects American politics”? (146)

 

  1. Why does the author criticize reliance on independent counsels (such as Lawrence Walsh) to investigate executive branch wrong-doing?   How do these special investigations do damage to the political system and its institutions?

 

  1. Why, on the whole, were conservatives satisfied with the accomplishments of the Reagan years?

 

  1. Why did liberals fail to inspire voters during the 1980s?  Why did they seem unable to present a set of ideas that might provide a viable alternative to Reaganism?

 

  1. How did the leadership of the Democratic party (Wright, Coelho, Dukakis) contribute to the party’s political woes?

 

  1. Why did Michael Dukakis lose to George Bush in the 1988 presidential election? 

 

  1. Why does the author disagree with Democrats who claimed Bush’s victory meant that the American electorate had been “duped”? What evidence does he introduce to support his point of view?

 

  1. Overall, what were the most significant achievements of Reagan’s second term?

 

Chapter 5

 

  1. What were the major goals for social and religious conservatives during the 1980s? Why did they believe that Reagan would help them advance their agenda?

 

  1. Why did Reagan prove less supportive of the social and religious conservatives than they had anticipated?  What other reasons does the author cite for the Christian conservatives’ failure to achieve their major goals?

 

  1. According to the author, why did social conservative crusades against homosexuality and pornography fail to win widespread support?

 

  1. What effect did the Reagan administration have on the court system? 

 

  1. Why does the author suggest that the 1980s “should have been a time of improving race relations”? (181-82)

 

  1. Why did affirmative actions policies change little during the 1980s?  Why were they considered beneficial?  Who did they benefit?

 

  1. How did demographic change (i.e. more Asians and Latino immigrants) raise anxiety about race relations during the 1980s?

 

  1. Why did urban blacks fear high levels of immigration?  Were their fears justified?

 

  1. Why was Jesse Jackson unable to put together a politically powerful, multi-racial coalition?  Why was the Democratic party wary of Jackson and his political views?

 

  1. How did Jackson’s failure to build strong coalition affect the leadership of the black community in the years since 1988?  Why is the author critical of figures like Al Sharpton?

 

  1. Why did women faculty members and minority students often feel excluded on College campuses?

 

  1. Why were academics in the humanities and social sciences so alienated from American society and culture during the 1980s?  How did their attraction to new academic fads such as deconstruction and identity politics reflect this alienation?

 

  1. How did the “culture wars” further isolate liberals and the left during the 1980s?  Why did most Americans pay little attention to these heated disputes?

 

Conclusion

 

  1. What changes did Reagan bring to American politics?  Why did his brand of conservatism prove acceptable to the great majority of voters?

 

  1. How did Americans’ attitudes toward the free market and toward the government change during the 1980s? How has American society changed since the 1980s?

 

  1. How well did the Democrats react to the social, political, and economic changes of the 1980s?  Why does the party continue to have trouble offering a viable alternative to conservative policies?

 

  1. According to the author, much about American politics and society remained the same through the 1980s.  What were some of these continuities?

 

Robert M. Collins, “Winning the Cold War”

 

  1. What events during 1983 suggested that the Cold War was heating up?

 

  1. How did Secretary of State George Schultz affect U.S. Cold War policy during the 1980s?

 

  1. What was Reagan’s “two-track” approach to the Soviets?  What evidence does the author cite that the President “changed tracks” in 1984?  Why did Reagan change tracks?

 

  1. According to the author, why are both Reagan and Gorbachev (rather than just Reagan or just Gorbachev) to be credited with bringing the Cold War to a non-violent end?

 

  1. What were the short-term effects of the Iran-Contra scandal?  How did Reagan survive it?  Why has its significance faded in the long term?

 

  1. What were some of the moral compromises the Reagan administration made in fighting the Cold War? Why did having to make choices between “bad thugs” and “worse thugs” (231-232) unnerve the American public?

 

  1. How did U.S. policy in Afghanistan produce unintended consequences?  Why does the author disagree with those who claim that U.S. policy created Al Qaeda?

 

  1. Was the defeat of Soviet-style Communism worth the sacrifices made and the risks taken?  What does the author think?  What do you think?