UNIT VIII STUDY GUIDE Policy: Domestic, Economic, and Foreign Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VIII Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 3. Describe the three branches of government. 4. Explain how the U.S. government functions at the federal, state, and local levels. 5. Identify the role of political parties in the United States political system. 6. Discuss how policies affect change. 6.1 Describe the purpose and goals of one type of policy in the United States. 6.2 Discuss how a specific policy might cause the United States to implement either isolationism or internationalism. 7. Identify the impact of media on public opinion and politics. Course/Unit Learning Outcomes 3 4 5 6.1 6.2 7 Learning Activity Unit VIII Lesson Reading: “An ‘Invitation to Struggle’? The Use of Force Against ‘Legislatively Vulnerable’ American Presidents” Reading: “11. Policy Making: Political Interactions” Unit VIII Final Project Unit VIII Lesson Reading: “An ‘Invitation to Struggle’? The Use of Force Against ‘Legislatively Vulnerable’ American Presidents” Reading: “11. Policy Making: Political Interactions” Unit VIII Final Project Reading: “An ‘Invitation to Struggle’? The Use of Force Against ‘Legislatively Vulnerable’ American Presidents” Reading: “11. Policy Making: Political Interactions” Unit VIII Final Project Unit VIII Lesson Chapter 17 Reading: “11a. Foreign Policy: What Now?” Reading: “11b. Defense Policy” Reading: “11c. Economic Policy” Reading: “11d. Social and Regulatory Policy” Unit VIII Final Project Unit VIII Lesson Chapter 17 Reading: “Lesson 4: The Great Debate: Internationalists vs. Isolationists” Unit VIII Final Project Unit VIII Lesson Reading: “11. Policy Making: Political Interactions” Unit VIII Final Project PS 1010, American Government 1 Reading Assignment UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title In order to access the reading from the OpenStax American Government textbook, please click the link below. Chapter 17: Foreign Policy (Section 17.4) To access the following resources, click the links below. Foster, D. M. (2006). An “invitation to struggle”? The use of force against “legislatively vulnerable” American presidents. International Studies Quarterly, 50(2), 421–444. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://search.ebscohost.com/logi n.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=20656715&site=ehost-live&scope=site Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11. Policy Making: Political interactions. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11.asp Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11a. Foreign policy: What now? Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11a.asp Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11b. Defense policy. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11b.asp Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11c. Economic policy. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11c.asp Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11d. Social and regulatory policy. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11d.asp National Endowment for the Humanities. (n.d.). Lesson 4: The great debate: Internationalists vs. isolationists. Retrieved from https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/great-debate-internationalists-vsisolationists#sect-background Unit Lesson Government is empowered to make political decisions that affect not only Americans but also other countries, including both allies and enemies. Many things shape American public policy: political campaigns, world events, court cases, media attention, and almost anything one can think of that can bring an issue to the spotlight. Though the primary goal of setting policy is protecting the needs and interests of the United States and its citizens, there are often policies and decisions that look at a larger global perspective. There is a constant struggle between focusing on the United States and the United States being the global policeman. Foreign Policy Most United States citizens are willing to step up and protect their culture or way of life. Foreign policy is one of the ways that Americans protect their national interests. To do this, the United States government makes sure that the military is adequately prepared and that there are productive trade policies and relations. In many ways, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s great isolationists versus internationalists debate stemming from his Lend-Lease proposal remains a hot topic today. Is America better off immersing itself in world affairs, regardless of the risk to American citizens and land, or are Americans better served by remaining neutral and avoiding involvement in other countries’ affairs? Such is the basis of American foreign policy. The State Department, headed by the secretary of state, coordinates foreign relations through embassies located in countries across the world. In order to do their work well, State Department officials and staff must have access to the most up-to-date intelligence available. This intelligence is gathered mostly through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and other agencies lightheartedly referred to as the “Alphabet Soup Agencies” due to their use of their acronyms rather than their full names. PS 1010, American Government 2 During the Spanish-American War, the United States branched out into world UNIT affairsxfor a time.GUIDE Prior to and STUDY following World War I (WWI), the United States became a more isolationist country Title (“Isolationism”, n.d.). Americans were more intent on building their infrastructure and consolidating their colonies than worrying about Europe and its ongoing disagreements. During World War II (WWII), Americans came to believe that, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States could no longer keep blinders on and pretend that what happened in Europe did not affect them (“Isolationism”, n.d.). As a result, the United States became an internationalist country. From the end of WWII until 1991, the Cold War between the United States and Russia dictated foreign policy with a focus on containing communism. Fighting the spread of communism was the biggest push of American foreign affairs. For most of the Cold War, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States did not directly engage in combat, but instead moved behind the scenes diplomatically and militarily in various countries. The hottest parts of the Cold War were the Korean Conflict during the 1950s, the Vietnam War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Ronald Reagan was credited with expediting the collapse of the USSR, which occurred in December of 1991, in no small part because of its massive amount of defense spending. This collapse would mark the end of the Cold War and the rise of American hegemony. In addition, the United States would begin to be viewed by the world as a global largest superpower (Ngara, 2017). With the collapse of the USSR, the United States began to call for other countries to increase participation and respond collectively to problems around the world. This multilateralism was seen during the first Gulf War as well as with the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces used in Bosnia when the Serbs were committing genocide. World Trade Center after the 9-11 attacks (Tourtellotte, 2001) Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, America has been fighting a war on terrorism. While this war on terrorism at first manifested in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is indeed a battle of many places and faces. The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) has cost much in not only money but in the sense of security, safety, and human life. Terrorism has changed the way people travel, think, and live. The problem with fighting terrorism is that fighting takes place with many faces and in many locations rather than a country with defined borders. Because of this new kind of war, the United States has sought to change its military into small and highly mobile combat units that can fight wherever and whenever needed (Berkowitz, 2002). About 7,000 military members have given their lives in the war on terrorism (Jenkins, 2016). Economic Policy In spite of fighting terrorism and people doing evil things, the United States also lives and trades with the world. No longer can any country be an island unto itself, particularly one whose economy has become a global economy. The United States has the strongest economy in the world (Bajpai, 2018). There is one significant question: “Does the government direct the economy, or does the economy direct itself?” (Independence Hall Association, n.d.-b, para. 1). Spanning two broad categories of fiscal and monetary policy, U.S. economic policy has four major goals: stable markets, economic prosperity, business development, and protecting employment (Federal Reserve System, n.d.). Monetary policy refers to the government’s policy of controlling the money supply. Too much money in circulation leads to inflation, while too little leads to deflation or can even lead to a recession (Independence Hall Association, n.d.-b). Until the 20th century, the United States operated under a laissezfaire economic policy that required an open market (Independence Hall Association, n.d.-b). During the Great Depression, the concept of Keynesian economics emerged. This policy was the opposite of the laissez-faire strategy with a primary tenet that it was the government that should manage the economy (Independence Hall PS 1010, American Government 3 Association, n.d.-b). The debate over which strategy is best remains, as current policy lies somewhere UNIT x STUDY GUIDE between the two strategies. Title The American economy depends heavily on international commerce. When one country falters in paying its debts, it starts to drag down all of the others. Since 2008, many countries, such as Greece and Cyprus, came close to defaulting on their loans only to be bailed out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that the world’s economy could stabilize. Internationalism and multilateralism on a grand scale have been illustrated by the European Union (EU), though the manifestation of the potential negative effects of both have also become increasingly evident. Rising conflict regarding policy led to the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, known as Brexit, in 2016 (“Eight Reasons Leave Won,” 2016). Brexit Domestic Policy (Kroschel, n.d.) The domestic policy-making process involves six primary steps:     realization of a problem; setting an agenda to solve the problem; creating a policy to deal with the problems; and adopting, implementing, and evaluating the policy (Independence Hall Association, n.d.-a). Domestic policy involves any policy related to actions and issues of national importance that occur within our borders. Some examples of domestic policy issues are healthcare, education, welfare, insurance, and labor. The United States uses a federalist form of government with a constitutionally expressed separation of state and federal governments. More often than not, the lines become blurred when it comes to jurisdiction. In April of 2010, the states of Arizona, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Michigan, and Illinois decided to enact their own immigration laws. These states were protesting a federal government that was not protecting the borders from illegal aliens who were putting financial and systemic strains on their economies. As a result, individual plaintiffs, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, filed lawsuits seeking to stop Arizona’s SB 1070 law, which added additional state requirements, crimes, and penalties related to the enforcement of immigration laws (Morse, 2011). In an analysis of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Arizona’s immigration enforcement laws, Ann Morse, the program director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, made the observation that SB 1070 is preempted specifically by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). This preemption was a result of U.S. foreign policy and federal law. Based on research of similar cases and laws, Morse noted that the laws violated at least two clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the Supremacy Clause and the Commerce Clause (Morse, 2011). The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a portion of the Arizona SB 1070 law, but struck down other aspects. The majority opinion stated that although Arizona has legitimate frustrations with illegal immigrants, the state cannot create policies that undermine federal laws. Because of the unconstitutionality of portions of SB 1070, Morse (2011) noted that the U.S. Department of Justice filed injunctions before those portions could take effect. Regulatory policy is a large component of American domestic policy. Regulatory bodies regulate everything from what one can eat to what one can buy and where and how the purchase is made. There are three basic categories of federal regulations: business, labor, and environment and energy. Regulatory policy has stemmed directly from the preamble to the Constitution where “promoting the general welfare” was prescribed (Independence Hall Association, n.d.-c). PS 1010, American Government 4 Public policy in America is a necessary but controversial subject, particularly inUNIT the land of theGUIDE free where x STUDY citizens often cite such freedoms as their right to ignore policy altogether. Title References Bajpai, P. (2018, August 16). The world’s top 20 economies. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/ Berkowitz, B. (2002, July 30). Fighting the new war. Retrieved from http://www.hoover.org/research/fightingnew-war Eight reasons Leave won the UK’s referendum on the EU. (2016, June 24). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36574526 Federal Reserve System. (n.d.). Conducting monetary policy. Retrieved from https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/files/pf_3.pdf Independence Hall Association. (n.d.-a). 11. Policy making: Political interactions. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11.asp Independence Hall Association. (n.d.-b). 11c. Economic policy. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11c.asp Independence Hall Association. (n.d.-c). 11d. Social and regulatory policy. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11d.asp Isolationism. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1601.html Jenkins. B. M. (2016, September). Fifteen years on, where are we in the “War on Terror”? Retrieved from https://ctc.usma.edu/fifteen-years-on-where-are-we-in-the-war-on-terror/ Kroschel, S. [Pixaline]. (n.d.). Brexit [Image]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/brexit-united-kingdom-euexit-1485004/ Morse, A. (2011). Arizona's immigration enforcement laws. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/analysis-of-arizonas-immigration-law.aspx Ngara, C. O. (2017). America’s global hegemony since the collapse of the Soviet Union: Implications for Africa’s development. Global Journal of Social Sciences Studies, 3(3), 113-121. Retrieved from http://www.onlinesciencepublishing.com/assets/journal/JOU0015/ART00197/1509341475_GJSSS2017-3(2)-113-121.pdf 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. PS 1010, American Government 5
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