By David S. Broder
BEFORE AND AFTER THE 1988 ELECTION
HOUSE
175;
REPUBLICANS
DEMOCRATS
THE AMERICAN voters gave George Bush and the Republican Party a pattern-breaking presiden-tial victory Tuesday but blurred the import of their decision by cauti-ously opting once again for divided government in Washington. The outcome of the long and expensive struggle signaled little more than the start of a new round of political warfare, one in which the White House and Congress will wrestle for control of the policy agenda and both parties will search for answers to vexing problems - like the budget deficit - which the candi-dates sidestepped on the stump.
.. . the evidence suggests that the preference for divided govern-ment — with Democrats looking after domestic needs in Congress and the state capitols while Repub-licans manage the economy, de-fense and foreign policy from the White House — may have had as much to do with the outcome as any impressions created by the of ten-venomous campaign. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll just before the election found voters by a 5-to-3 margin thought it better for different parties to control the White House and Congress. Ken Adams, 35, a tire-store owner in Clarkston, Ga., and pro-Bush Dem-ocrat, spoke for many when he said Tuesday, "I'd rather have a little argument going to work things out." Echoed Karen Ekegren, 54, a Chicago office worker, "It's not
good to have one party in control."
Scholars of presidential elections said they were sure that in-depth analysis of the unprecedented mass of polling data this election gen-erated will demonstrate that peace and prosperity were the funda-mental forces behind Bush's victory.
Six years of sustained economic growth, low inflation and declining unemployment, coupled with im-proving relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, boosted President Reagan's pop-ularity back up from its Iran-Contra lows. And as Reagan's standing rose, so did support for his loyal vice president.
William Galston, a professor of public affairs at the University of Maryland and adviser to past Dem-ocratic presidential candidates, said, "All year long, the voters felt the tension between general satis-faction with the present and vague but pervasive anxiety about the future. In the end, the present trumped the future."
That left the question of mandate open to interpretation. Paul Wey-rich, a leading conservative strat-egist, argued that "if the Democrats take the policy initiative on the basis of their projected Senate gains, they will probably get some-where with it. They could say voters were deliberately tying Bush's hands because they were worried what he might do." . . .
Iran-Contra: a reference to a scandal of the Reagan presidency when it was discovered that the U.S. had sold arms to Iran and illegally diverted the profits to the contra rebels fighting the Sandinista government of Nicaragua.
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PART C Exercises
1. Comprehension
Perspective of a Public Man
Which of the following statements about Hubert Humphrey's ideas is correct?
In some cases, more than one statement applies.
1. According to Hubert Humphrey, a great president
a) must be able to spur people on to act to the best of their abilities.
b) must be both a teacher and a preacher.
c) must make sure that he attaches equal importance to all fields of politics.
2. As a senator Hubert Humphrey
a) found that working as a legislator kept him away from the people.
b) took up a second job as a teacher.
c) believed that explaining politics to the people was more important than passing laws.
3. The message that politicians convey to the public
a) must be simplistic.
b) is necessarily repetitive and boring.
c) must be simplified but nevertheless interesting.
4. Hubert Humphrey likes political leaders who a) are prepared to make unpopular
decisions.
b) base their decisions on opinion polls.
c) value their personal conviction higher than public opinion.
5. Hubert Humphrey advises prospective young politicians
a) to avoid becoming involved in problems that invite criticism.
b) to expect unfair personal criticism.
c) to be prepared to put up with criticism.
6. In a democratic society decisions ought to be made
a) by a few leading personalities.
b) after a long discussion process that
•involves as many people as possible.
c) by young people with bright ideas.
2. Analysis of a Speech
A President's Mission1. In this excerpt from the nomination acceptance speech, delivered at the Republican National Convention, George Bush defines a president's mission. Which aspects of his mission does he mention?
2. This speech must be seen in the context of the 1988 election campaign. During this campaign the Democrats accused the Republicans and the Reagan administration of showing little regard for ethnic minorities, of caring only for the rich and neglecting the poor and of letting officials violate people's trust in public service. How does George Bush deal with these accusations?
3. A cartoon is a satirical drawing commenting on current events or politics. Describe this cartoon and explain the point the cartoonist wants to make.
AUTH COPYRIGHT 1988 Philadelphia Inquirer.
Reprinted with permission of Universal Press Syndicate. All rights reserved.
4» During the campaign George Bush was frequently reproached for his prosperous social background and for his lack of eloquence. How does he react to these attacks in this speech?
3. Questionnaire
The Human Side of Congress
High school students in Ohio have been discussing the structure of Congress and the legislative process. Two of the students have received a grant for an educational trip to Washington, where they will be given the chance to interview a member of Congress. The class has prepared the following questionnaire for this interview.
How would Jim Wright answer these questions?
1 Does Congress really represent a cross-section of the American people?
2. How does a member of Congress compare with the average American citizen?
3. Is a member of Congress an active factor in the decision-making process or is he/she only part of a machine?
4. Members of Congress are subject to all kinds of pressure from their constituencies, their parties, the opinion polls, and their own convictions. How can they possibly represent such conflicting interests?
5. How much time does a member of Congress devote to the actual needs of his/her constituents?
6. What can a member of Congress in Washington do for his/her home district?
7. If a representative is strongly convinced that he/she ought to vote against the wishes of constituents, what can he/she do?
8. What is the function of a majority leader?
4. Scanning
Lobbyists and Their Issues
Quickly read through the presentations of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and The Wilderness Society and find out about
• the type and size of the organizations
• the basic issues
• their activities on Capitol Hill
• other activities.
5. Simulation of a Debate
Considering what you know about the Wilderness Society and with reference to the information about the "Use of Federally Owned Land" carry out a debate on the following issue:
Federal Lands should be Opened to Energy Developers
In this debate, environmentalists of the Wilderness Society and representatives of the coal industry and oil companies defend their viewpoints.
Use of Federally Owned Land—The Department of the Interior controls 510 million acres of federal land, roughly one-seventh of the nation's land area.
Underneath that land is estimated to be 80 percent of the nation's oil shale deposits, 35 percent of its uranium, and 60 percent of its low-sulfur coal...
For years many people have looked upon resources located on protected federal lands as reserves for the long-term future. During the 1980s, however, many people began to feel that the government should open up federal land for private develop-ment, particularly since the country's energy needs had become more urgent...
Environmentalists urge caution in the govern-ment's granting of development rights to any federal lands or waters. Many endangered animals, such as the grizzly bear, live in these lands, and the building of roads and the clearing of forests would disrupt their habitats. Furthermore, development can damage water quality and increase soil erosion.
Either would have a severe impact on fish. Other critics of developing federally owned resources argue that those resources should be saved for future crises, such as war or a minerals embargo.
Those who support development point out that the country has had to import large amounts of oil and strategic minerals, such as chromium and cobalt, which could have been taken from federal lands. Considering the costs of energy dependence and our large trade deficit, the nation cannot afford to ignore resources in its own backyard, say devel-opment supporters. Moreover, they contend, the search and development of these resources must begin now; otherwise, when an emergency arises, there will not be time to extract them.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM 167
6. Writing Newspaper Articles
Since PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat addressed the United Nations on the subject of Palestinian rights, the question has been discussed whether the U.S. should recognize the PLO as the official representative of Palestinian refugees.
Imagine that the Minnesota Daily, a newspaper published by and for students at the University of Minnesota, has asked people to write articles covering the different viewpoints of the issue under the heading "Should the U.S. negotiate with the PLO?"
Write such an article from the point of view of either an active AIPAC member or a pro-Palestinian. Use the information boxes below for reference.
Israel—Israel was formed from part of the Pales-tinian Mandate—the territory of Palestine that had been taken from the Turkish Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I and mandated to Great Britain by the League of Nations. Palestine then included areas now comprising Jordan, Israel, and Israeli-occupied territories on the west bank of the Jordan River (the West Bank). Israel itself is only about the size of Massachusetts.
Modern Israel grew out of Zionism, a political movement founded in 1897 to establish a Jewish national homeland free from anti-Jewish persecution.
Twenty years later in the Balfour Declaration, the British government agreed in principle to the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Tens of thou-sands of Jews immigrated to Palestine, joining Jews who had lived there for centuries. While the Balfour Declaration was a significant step, the major drive to establish a Jewish state grew out of the Holocaust—the attempted extermination of the-Jewish people by the Nazis. Thousands of homeless Holocaust survivors headed to Palestine in the postwar years. In 1947 the United Nations Partition Plan proposed that two states—one Arab and one Jewish—be established on the section of Palestine west of the Jordan River. On May 14, 1948, the Jewish state of Israel declared its independence.
The United States was one of the first nations to recognize the state of Israel. U.S. support for Israel was an outgrowth of American cultural and re-ligious ties to Jews, the feeling of a moral obligation to help the Jews establish a homeland after the Holocaust, and the belief that the new Israeli govern-ment would likely be democratic. Today»the United States continues to look to Israel as its most reliable ally in the Middle East. Despite its having only four million citizens, Israel has the strongest mili-tary force in the region and is also the only working democracy there.
The Palestinians—The Palestinians are a people without a homeland. In 1921 the British gave two-thirds of Palestine to a non-Palestinian, Arab king.
This land is now the kingdom of Jordan. When the western third of Palestine was partitioned after World War II, areas that were supposed to form a separate Palestinian Arab state were instead absorbed by Egypt and Israel and annexed by Jordan. That left the Palestinians without a country.
Approximately four million Palestinians have been affected by the conflicts in the Middle East.
They are now scattered throughout the region, many living in refugee camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Others fled to Europe or North America.
The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in 1964 to lead the struggle for a Palestinian state. Its methods have included both terrorism and diplomacy. In 1974 the United Nations granted the PLO observer status, which allows it to partici-pate in the United Nations General Assembly, although it may not vote. The United States has refused to recognize the PLO until it renounces its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel.
The PLO says it will not recognize Israel until the Palestinians have a state of their own.
The military power of the PLO has greatly dim-inished since the Israelis pushed them out of southern Lebanon and pro-Syrian elements of the PLO overran the forces of PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat in 1983. However, Arafat's PLO forces are being rearmed by Iraq and are training in Jordan and Iraq. From these bases Arafat is struggling to keep the PLO the sole representative of the Pales-tinian people. Arafat's strongest support is among the 1.2 million Palestinians who still live in the Israeli-occupied West Bank or Gaza Strip.
7. Global Comprehension
"If Conservatives Cannot Do it Now. . . "
Decide which of the three answers best applies to Irving Kristol's views:
1. The Republican Party's chances of keeping power in conservative hands over a long period are: poor/fairly good/better than ever before.
2. Solving economic problems will lead to little/nwre/complete acceptance of the whole government.
3. The different groups making up the conservative coalition are less divergent than/as divergent as/more divergent than those that Franklin D. Roosevelt established.
4. The moral issues in this coalition are the easiest/fairly easy/the most difficult to solve.
5. The role intellectuals play in the
conservative movement is negligible/of some importance/very important.
6. Reagan's ideas about foreign policy are not very clear/fairly well-structured/profound.
7. There is a natural cyclical pattern according to which a governing political party loses/
maintains/increases its impact on the people after some years.
8. In a severe crisis the dominant party will lose/keep/gain members.
9. The conservatives are going to improve/retain/do away with most of the social achievements made under Democratic Party rule.
10. The Democratic Party will have a chance to regain power by becoming right-wing/
moderate/left-wing.
8. Text Analysis
Reagan-Bush '84—Leadership You Can Trust
1. After taking a first glance at this pamphlet explain why you think it was issued.
2. Describe the layout of this pamphlet and explain the purpose of
• the structure
• the headlines
• the photos
• the diagrams
• the quotation with Reagan's signature.
3. According to the pamphlet, what changes were brought about in the following fields of politics between 1980 and 1984?
• self-confidence of the people and confidence in government defense
nuclear arms control foreign affairs social policy
economy: taxes; inflation; interest rates;
government spending; production;
(un-)employment.
4. According to the pamphlet, which policies of the Reagan administration were particularly successful?
5. Of course, one would not expect such a pamphlet to admit any failures or
shortcomings. Are there any problems not explicity mentioned here that have not been satisfactorily tackled and solved by the Reagan administration? If so, are they identical with the future tasks envisaged in the pamphlet?
9. Writing a Newspaper Article
Keynote Address by Governor Cuomo to the Democratic National Convention
Imagine you are a reporter for a small daily paper and you have been sent to San Frandscc to cover the Democratic National Convention.
You have listened to Governor Cuomo's speech and taken the following notes. In the left hand margin you have indicated the main ideas for the different paragraphs of your article.
Now write such an article. Find a suitable headline and begin with a paragraph that not only presents the keynote of Governor Cuomo's speech but also arouses the interest of the reader.
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THE POLITICAL SYSTEM 169
10. Comprehension
Americans Vote for Divided GovernmentFind the missing words by choosing from the pairs in the list below.
Although the American voters gave Bush and the Republican Party a presidential victory, they again О divided government in Washington.
The White House and Congress will О for control of the О agenda and both parties will search for answers to О problems—like the budget deficit—which the candidates О discussing during the campaign. The О for divided government is due to the voters' О that Democrats should look after <C> needs while a Republican president and his О would be more О at dealing with the economy, defense and foreign policy. According to an О poll just before the election, the О of voters found it better for О parties to control the White House and Congress. Scholars of presidential elections said they were О that peace and prosperity were the О forces behind Bush's victory. Six years of О economic growth, low inflation and О unemployment, О with improving relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, C" President Reagan's popularity after its Iran-Contra lows. And as Reagan's O> rose, so did support for his loyal vice-president.
nouns faith/belief majority/minority reference/preference politics/policy reputation/isolation opinion/reason community/cabinet
adjectives
essential/mysterious continuous/conscious separate/combined domestic/static absent/certain superficial/critical identical/different increasing/decreasing competent/composed verbs
prevented/avoided struggle/compromise raised/dropped preferred/related
11. Comparative Study
1. Assess the degree of bias (Republican, Democrat, neutral) in the Irving Kristol interview, the Reagan-Bush pamphlet, the address by Governor Cuomo, and the article from the Washington Post—"Americans Vote for Divided Government."
2. Judging from these four texts where do you see the basic differences in the political agendas of the two main parties?
3. Between the Irving Kristol interview and the Washington Post article there is a time span of about eight years. In light of the 1984 and 1988 elections, to what extent did the new conservatism envisaged by Kristol in 1981 as part of a cyclical pattern of political
philosophies become the dominant factor in American politics?
4. How do the political philosophies of the two major parties compare with those of the main parties in your country?
ю America's
As a global superpower, the United States exerts wide-reaching political, military, and economic influence. It has strong political and military ties to democratic governments in Western Europe and in other areas of the world.
As the leading power of the western hemisphere, the United States plays an active role in Latin America.
America's political and military alliances are backed by its formidable military and nuclear forces.
SUMMARY OF MAJO
R MILITARY FORCES:1980 то 1985 [As of Sept. 30]
DESCRIPTION 1980 1984 1985 DESCRIPTION 1980 1984 1985
Army: Divisions...
Maneuver battalions ...
Maneuver battalions ...