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Description
Flashcards by shona.doyle10, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by shona.doyle10
over 10 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| Why can the USA be described as a superpower? | powerful and influential nation, militarily, politically and economically influences the world |
| What relevance does the USA have to Scotland? | National Tartan day, Scottish Americans, scots descendents contribution to America (science, politics and law) |
| What are the melting pot and salad bowl theories? | melting pot= people who go to the USA may lose their identity over time salad bowl= possible for people to keep their identies |
| What are the 5 ethnic groups in the USA and what percentage do they make up? | Whites-66%, Hispanics-18%, African American/Blacks-12%, Asians-4%, Native Americans-1% |
| Give 4 pull factors to the USA. | Democratic country, Freedom of speech, The American Dream, Jobs |
| Give 4 push factors to the USA. | Dictatorship, Unemployment, Poverty,War and natural disasters |
| Give 3 arguments for and against immigration to the USA? | For= 1.Increases diversity and expands the culture of the country 2.Immigrants often take low paid jobs which Americans don't want 3.Some intelligent and ambitious people bring their skills to the US Against=1.May result in opportunities for terrorists, drug dealers and other criminals to enter the country. 2.National language and identity disappearing 3.Emmigration harms the economy of the country that is left |
| What is the American dream? | The belief that anyone from any background who works hard can succeed. |
| What is the US Constitution and the bill of rights? | It is a set of rules that outlines how the government should be run, it is a written document and is also the basis for the legal system. The bill of rights are the first amendments made to the constitution |
| Describe the 3 branches of the constitution. | 1.Legislative (Congress, the Senate = 100 seats, 2 per state, the House of Representatives =435, number depends on size of state) 2.The Executive Branch (President and Vice) 3.The Judicial Branch (the supreme court/judges) |
| What are the 4 roles of the president? | 1.Chief legislator 2.Commander-in-chief of the armed forces 3.Chief executive 4.Head of state |
| What are the 6 things that state governments are responsible for? | Capital punishment, education, marriage laws, gun ownership, business regulation, transport |
| What are the 5 things that the federal government is responsible for? | US currency, the armed forces, the postal service, foreign regulations, taxes |
| Give 4 ways Americans can be involved in politics | voting in elections, standing as a candidate for a political party, joining a party and helping in elections, contributing to party funds. |
| Describe interest groups and things members can become involved in. | they put pressure in the government to amend or introduce laws in support of their cause. Members participate in marches/demonstrations, organise petitions, letters, media, or other forms of lobbying. |
| Who can Americans vote for? | federal government, for president, state elections, county elections and they can vote in primary elections for candidates if they register with a party. |
| What are 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of the two party system | Advantages= 1.Stability (more stable than multiparty systems) 2.Moderation (must appeal to the middle to win so they parties tend to be moderate) Disadvantages= 1.Lack of choices (both parties similar) 2.Less democratic (percentage will always feel marginalized or unrepresented) |
| Describe the democrat party. | Gains support from: -coastal areas and major cities -blue collar/manual workers (dwellers) -Catholics and Jews -Ethnic minorities and poorer groups -women and liberal views |
| Describe the republican party. | Gains support from: -big business and white collar proffesionals -midwest and south, rural and suburban areas -middle and higher income earners, higher educated -protestants, whites, males -conservative views |
| Why is location a factor in education inequality? | White students live in rich suburbs and rural areas. Blacks and hispanics more inner-city areas. |
| Give 3 reasons ethnic minorities have substandard education. | 1.poverty 2.language barriers 3.more likely to drop out of high school |
| Give 3 ways the government are responding to education poverty. | 1.spent billions on elementary and secondary education 2.ensuring all schools have highly qualified teachers 3.supporting low performing schools |
| Describe the ghettos. | drug trafficking, increasing unemployment, poverty, violence and gangs, environmental issues, deteriorating housing |
| Describe the suburbs. | security, new buildings, clean streets, better funded schools, less poverty, less crime |
| Give three reasons Americans may not be insured for health. | 1.they're unemployed 2.their employer may not provide health cover 3.they don't qualify for medicare (65+) or medicaid (poor) which are government funded. |
| Who experiences health inequalities as they cannot afford insurance? (include %) | Children 9.8%, Ethnic minorities: 33%Hispanics, 22% blacks, 18% asians, White americans 13.9% |
| What does the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) mean for Americans? | it reduces the cost of medical insurance and improves the quality of health care. Everyone must have insurance |
| What is the prison population by race? | 32% white, 39% black (over represented), 23% hispanic, other 6% |
| What is the death row population by race and where are the inequalities? | 42% black (over represented), 43% whites, 12% hispanics, 3% other |
| What is the most common weapon used? | firearms at 68 %, the next is 'other' at 9% |
| How many states allow the death penalty? | 31 states out of 50 |
| What has Obama tried to do about guns? | he tried to amend a bill to create stricter gun background checks but only 54 senators backed the plan and he needed 60. |
| What are some of Obama's gun proposals? | Stronger background checks, ban on assualt weapons, prevent gun trafficking |
| What % of children are born into single parent families in the ghettos? | 80% |
| What percent of single mothers are in poverty and why? | poverty rate of 42% because they only have one pay coming in or they rely on benefits/food stamps |
| What does the American Recovery Reinvestment Act aim to do? | boost family incomes by expanding the child tax credit and a Make Work pay tax credit to get people into work. Obama is also trying to improve child care and nursery plans. |
| What is the poverty rate of the USA? | 15% and 46.2 million |
| What are the 4 reasons people experience inequalities in terms of income? | Education, types of job, born outside of USA and discrimination |
| What is the American recovery and reinvestment act? | Obama put $20b into food stamp programme for the poor. Increased unemployment insurance to the poor and get the economy moving and have less Americans in poverty |
| Why are Asians doing so well in America? | Education, highest income, best educated, fastest growing ethnic group, most likely group to marry non APIs |
| What was the unemployment rate during the recession and what is it now? | Was 10% now 8% |
| What are employment inequalities caused by? | Discrimination, recession, language barriers, illegal immigration, lack of skills or qualifications |
| What 4 ways did Obama rescue the economy? | Signed recovery...act, signed Wall Street reform, signed small business jobs act, spent money on saving the auto industry |
| What percentage of Americans voted in 2008 and 2012? | 2008: 62 % 2012: 57.5% |
| Why are ethnic minorities less likely to vote? | Under represented, we're historically discouraged in voting, many African Americans feel it is irrelevant, up until 2008 no black president |
| What was the result of the 2012 election? | Obama 65.9m votes and Romney 60.9m. Electoral college exaggerates the votes, Obama 332 and Romney 206: 51% and 47% |
| What percentage of whites compared to blacks voted for Obama? | 39% of whites and 93% of blacks |
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