American Government Final Project (MATHGUY18 ONLY)

PS 1010, American Government 1

Learning Objectives Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 1. Discuss the development of U. S. foreign and defense policy. 2. Explain both the military and economic aspect of U. S. national security

policy. 3. Determine the similarities and differences that exist among federal,

state, and local governments. 4. Compare and contrast economic issues and concerns in both the

federal, state, and local budgets. 5. Elaborate on how states and localities deal with public policy.

Unit Lesson “The American Way” is an ideal that we, as United States citizens, are willing to protect at any and all costs. Foreign policy is one of the ways that we protect our national interests. To do this, we make sure that our military is adequately prepared and that we have productive trade policies and relations. The State Department, which is headed by the Secretary of State, coordinates our foreign relations through our embassies located in most countries across the world. In order to do their work well, they must have access to the most up to date intelligence available. This intelligence gathering is done mostly through the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the NSA (National Security Agency). During the Spanish-American War, the United States branched out into world affairs for a time. But prior to, and after WWI, the United States became a more isolationist country. We were more intent on building up our infrastructure and consolidating our colonies than worrying about Europe and their ongoing disagreements. During WWII we realized, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, that we could no longer keep blinders on and pretend that what happened in Europe did not impact us. As a result, the U. S. became an internationalist country. From the end of WWII until the end of the 1980s, our Cold War with Russia and the containment of Communism was the biggest push of our foreign affairs department. For most of the Cold War, Russia and the United States did not directly engage in combat but instead moved behind the scenes diplomatically in various countries. The “hottest” parts of the Cold War were the Korean conflict during the 1950s, the Vietnam conflict, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union would finally collapse at the end of the 1980s due to the massive amount of defense spending. This collapse would leave the United States as the world’s biggest military power. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States began to push for more participation of other countries in response to problems around the world. This multilateralism was seen during the first Gulf War as well as the U.S.- NATO forces used in Bosnia when the Serbs were committing genocide.

Reading Assignments Chapter 17: Foreign Policy: Protecting the American Way Chapter 18: State and Local Politics: Maintaining Our Differences

Supplemental Reading Click here to view a PDF of the Chapter 17 presentation. Click here to view a PDF of the Chapter 18 presentation.

Key Terms 1. Bicameral legislature 2. Charter 3. Cold War 4. Containment 5. Cooley’s rule 6. Deterrence policy 7. Dillon’s rule 8. Economic

globalization 9. Free trade

10. Initiatives 11. Isolationist 12. Preemptive war

doctrine 13. Recall election 14. Referendum 15. Strong/Weak mayor-

council system

UNIT VIII STUDY GUIDE

Foreign Policy and Local Politics

PS 1010, American Government 2

While these instances showed that the major powers could indeed work together, it was not necessarily a long-term success story, as seen in the

second Gulf War. Since the attack on the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, we have been fighting a war on terrorism. While this war at first manifested in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is indeed a war of many places and faces. This war has

cost much in not only money, but also security and lives; it has changed the way we travel and think and live. The problem is that we are fighting an idea with many faces and not a country with defined borders. Because of this new kind of war, the United States has undertaken to change its military into small and highly mobile combat units that can fight wherever and whenever needed. Along with fighting the world’s “evil,” the United States must also live and trade with the world. No country can be an island unto itself any longer now that our economy has become a global economy. When one country falters in paying its debts, it starts to drag down all of the others. Since 2008, we have seen many countries, such as Greece and Cyprus, close to defaulting on their loans only to be bailed out by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) so that the world’s economy can stabilize. The American economy depends heavily on international commerce today, and most businesses today are multinational corporations with offices and facilities all over the world. In the United States, we have a federalist form of government where there is a constitutional separation between the state and federal governments. More often than not, the lines get blurred as to who has jurisdiction. In 2010, Arizona felt that the federal government was not doing its job concerning illegal immigrants so they passed a tough law calling for police to check legal status whenever they stopped a person for any reason. The federal government said that this was not allowed since immigration was a federal concern, and in 2012 the Supreme Court agreed with the federal government that Arizona had overstepped its constitutional authority. Although the U.S. Constitution gives states power, it does not define that power. Each state in turn has its own constitution, and within that constitution it lays out the groundwork for their executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as defining the powers of each, the checks and balances, and a Bill of Rights. These constitutions tend to be very long with little flexibility and are too easy to amend. Within the federal government, the citizens vote for the president and their legislators but not judges. In the individual states, citizens have a more direct say in not only the governor and legislators, but also judges. Voters in many states also get a say in legislation through the initiative and referendum. If the voters do not like how state or local officials are doing their job, they can petition for a recall to have them removed from office before their term is up. Voter participation within the states is dismal at best. Trying to curtail the coattail effect of presidential elections, many states went to off year elections.

World Trade Center after 9/11 attacks (Tourtellotte, J., 2001)

PS 1010, American Government 3

While this has many good qualities, most voters only get out to vote during presidential elections or high profile, contentious elections. Unlike states, local governments do not have sovereignty and only have authority through the state in which they reside. States will draw up charters for a local government telling them what they can and cannot do. A state also has the authority to disband any local government they feel is not operating within their charter. The most common forms of local governments are counties, municipalities, towns, and townships, but there are also school districts and special districts which are usually independent of local governments. In order to provide services to its citizens, not only does the federal government tax us, but the state and local governments tax us as well. The federal government has the easiest job of taxing us because most people will not leave the country to avoid taxation. However, they will leave a state or local area if the taxes are too high. The federal government taxes our income; some states also tax personal income, but not all do. Most states rely on sales tax as well as gambling and liquor tax. Local governments, on the other hand, rely on some sales tax (if the state allows) as well as property tax (which is where they get most of their money). Because the federal government can gather more tax revenue, it gives money back out to the states in revenue-sharing grant-in-aids. The largest expenditure that state and local governments have is that of education. Since Sputnik launched, the United States government has been more and more involved with the state of education within this country. The federal government ties money they give for education to standardized test results. Whether the diversity of our society or the absence of a strong intellectual tradition is bringing test scores down, something must be done to turn the education system around. Other areas where money is spent within state and local areas include welfare assistance, health care, roads, police, prisons, and the environment. While Americans have many things in common, we are also very different. Our differences have brought us together and made us stronger through the system that was created by the Founding Fathers. They did not have all of the answers about what the future would bring, but they created something that has been flexible enough to last for over two hundred years.

Reference Patterson, T. (2013). The American democracy (11th ed.). New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill, Inc. Tourtellotte, J. (2001). World trade center 6 after the 9-11 attacks [Photograph].

Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_Trade_Center _6_after_the_9-11_attacks.jpg.