Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Resurgence of Conservativism (Honors)

Chose any 1 of the questions below to discuss.


  1. To what extent was the election of Reagan an endorsement of his conservative ideology and to what extent was it a repudiation of the perceived failures of federal government policies in the stalemated 1970's?
  2. In what ways might the 1980s and 1990s be compared to the 1920s in economic, social and foreign policies? Did the economic boom of each period represent a genuine revival of American innovation or was it fundamentally marred by the growing gap between the rich and the poor?
  3. What were the successes and failures of American foreign policy in the post-Cold War era? Was the use of American military power in the Persian Gulf War and the Balkans a model for how American power could be effectively brought to bear or did it demonstrate the limits of even the sole superpower's ability to resolve regional politics?
  4. What was the real cause of the end of the Cold War? Did America win the Cold War, or did the Soviets loose the Cold War? Is there a difference? 
  5. Compare and contrast the rise of the "Moral Majority" in the 1980s with that of the "Beats" of the 1950s and the "Hippies" of the 1960s and 1970s. What commonalities do they have with each other?
  6. How should history view the presidency of Ronald Regan? Was he a great, good, fair, bad president and why?

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