Deck 31: The Conservative Challenge

Question 1

Retired Californian ________ formed the United Organizations of Taxpayers, which worked to place on the 1978 state ballot an initiative known as Proposition 13. The measure cut property taxes statewide by 57 percent.

A) Ronald Reagan
B) Howard Jarvis
C) Jerry Brown
D) S. I. Hayakawa

Answer 1

Howard Jarvis

Question 2

Which of the following did Jimmy Carter NOT bring to the Oval Office?

A) plans to address economic stagnation
B) disciplined work habits
C) plans to address the energy crisis
D) a set of priorities

Answer 2

a set of priorities

Question 3

In March 1979, a plume of radioactive steam spewed from an overheated nuclear reactor at ________ in Pennsylvania.

A) Three Mile Island
B) Diablo Canyon
C) Susquehanna
D) Limerick

Answer 3

Three Mile Island

Question 4

Jimmy Carter faced a host of economic problems when he became president: stagnating wages, rising unemployment, inflation, and falling industrial productivity. From which previous president(s) did he inherit a large federal budget deficit?

A) Kennedy
B) Nixon
C) Ford
D) both Nixon and Ford

Question 5

Carter negotiated a treaty that gave control of the Canal Zone to

A) the United States.
B) France.
C) the United Nations.
D) Panama.

Question 6

Which of the following describes the limited compromise struck by Sadat and Begin at the summit President Carter hosted at Camp David in 1978?

A) Sadat would recognize Israel; Israel would return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
B) Israel would recognize a Palestinian state; Israel would receive the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.
C) Sadat would recognize a Palestinian state; Israel would receive the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.
D) Israel would occupy the Sinai Peninsula; Egypt would control Gaza.

Question 7

President Carter announced the United States would boycott the Olympics in 1980 in response to what world event?

A) OPEC oil price increases that drove up inflation to nearly 14 percent
B) the death of eight Marines in Iran
C) the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
D) the Islamic rebellion in Afghanistan

Question 8

All the following groups voiced criticism of television programming EXCEPT

A) evangelicals.
B) advertisers.
C) political conservatives.
D) None of these answers is correct-all three groups criticized TV programming of the era.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT an effect resulting from the boom in computer use in business offices and on factory floors?

A) lowering of product development time
B) increased demand for low-skilled workers
C) decrease in the costs of products
D) well-educated women gaining more economic independence

Question 10

Why did National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, Admiral John Poindexter, and their aides assume they had the power to act on their own when dealing with Iranian moderates and Nicaraguan rebels?

A) a secret intelligence "finding" signed by the president
B) Congress giving them permission
C) Article II of the Constitution, and thus the president's implied powers
D) executive privilege and past precedent

Question 11

How was the scandal known as "Irangate" different from the "Watergate"
Scandal of the Nixon administration?

A) Reagan was kept in the dark; Nixon was kept in the loop.
B) Unelected individuals were in control; Nixon was in control.
C) There was little support to impeach Reagan.
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 12

In the 1980s, with health care costs skyrocketing, a deadly new disease threatened to take on epidemic proportions. In this disease,

A) a parasite was transmitted in polluted streams.
B) organic poisons were transmitted by the needles of drug users.
C) a virus broke down the human immune system.
D) leaking nuclear radiation caused incurable brain cancers.

Question 13

Who established a "Council on Competitiveness," whose mission was to rewrite regulations that corporations found burdensome?

A) John Sununu
B) George H. W. Bush
C) Dan Quayle
D) Bill Clinton

Question 14

Which statement best explains Bill Clinton's victory in 1992?

A) As a southerner and liberal, Clinton rebuilt the traditional Democratic coalition and won a solid
majority of both popular and electoral votes.
B) Voters, in an upbeat mood, rejected the sour criticisms of Bush and Perot and embraced Clinton's optimistic vision for change.
C) Worried about growing instability around the world, voters opted for the candidate with experience in foreign affairs.
D) Middle-of-the-road voters turned to Clinton, who painted himself as a moderate.

Question 15

Ronald Reagan identified himself with the theory of ________ economics, based on the ideas of economist Arthur Laffer.

Question 16

The new leader of the ________ unleashed momentous changes when he proclaimed policies of openness and restructuring.

Question 17

In the Democratic primaries for the election of 1984, ________ mounted the most successful effort to date by an African American presidential candidate.

Question 18

The great symbol of the end of the cold war and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe was the tearing down of the ________ in 1989.

Question 19

How did the swing toward more conservative politics reflect views about the following: abortion, television, films, and family life?

Question 20

What factors led to the economic prosperity of the Reagan years? To what extent do you believe the president's economic policies helped to solve underlying economic problems?

Question 21

Ronald Reagan hoped to execute a foreign policy that made America "stand tall."
Discuss how he attempted to implement that goal in the following areas: Grenada, Lebanon, Libya, and Iran.

Question 22

Explain the major features of Reagan and Gorbachev's negotiations on strategic arms.

Question 23

Why did the U.S. become involved in Desert Storm?

Question 24

Explain which you think was worse-Watergate or Irangate.

Question 25

Should George H. W. Bush have overthrown Saddam Hussein?

Question 26

Explain why you think Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton exemplifies the proper style of a president.

Question 27

What role should the United States play in promoting the success of democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union?

Question 28

Explain why you think Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush should or should not receive credit for the collapse of world Communism.

Question 29

In the post-cold war world, should the United States normalize its relations with Cuba? Oppose human rights violations in China? Intervene in ethnic wars as in Eastern Europe?
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