- •Lecture 11 the general outline, including geography
- •11.1. General description: what comes to mind first?
- •11.2. Contributions to civilization.
- •11.3. Contributions to culture.
- •11.4. The American "melting pot of nations".
- •Lecture 12 the discovery of america, and the puritan experiment
- •12.1. The earlier history of America's discovery.
- •12.2. The British colonization of the new continent.
- •12.3. The beginning of Puritan America.
- •12.4. The theocratic experiment.
- •Lecture 13 american enlightenment
- •13.1. The beginning of the Enlightenment.
- •13.2. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence.
- •13.3. The American Revolution.
- •13.4. The War of Independence and after.
- •Lecture 14 the usa in the first half of the XIX century
- •14.1. The historical outline.
- •14.2. The Civil War in the usa (1861—1865).
- •14.3. The war and its outcome.
- •14.4. Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the usa.
- •Lecture 15 the reconstruction and after
- •15.2. More development.
- •15.3. Geography and a bit of economy.
- •15.4. Manufacturing of today.
- •Lecture 16 the usa in the XX century
- •16.1. The First World War.
- •16.2 The Great Depression and World War II.
- •16.3. After of the war: international politics.
- •16.4. After of the war: domestic affairs.
- •Lecture 17 the usa after 1950
- •17.1. The civil rights movement: 1950s — 1960s.
- •17.2. The Kennedy Administration and the Vietnam War.
- •17.3. The space programs.
- •17.4. From Reagan to Bush, Jr.
- •Lecture 18 ppolitical system. Parties. Leadership
- •18.1 The us political system.
- •18.2. Main political parties
- •18.3. Main political leaders.
- •18.4. Modern us policy.
- •Lecture 19 social issues, and education and science
- •19.1. Social issues.
- •19.2. Secondary education.
- •19.4. Notes on the development of American science.
- •Lecture 20 mass culture and the concept of americanization
- •20.1. America’s Global Role (political and economic influence)
- •20.2 America’s Global Role.
- •20.3 America’s mass culture.
- •20.4 The usa in the XXI century.
- •20.4.4.
- •Lecture 21 a tour of the english-speaking countries
- •21.1. Sightseeing in the United Kingdom.
- •21.2. Sightseeing in the usa.
- •21.3. The Republic of Ireland and Canada.
- •21.4. Australia and New Zealand.
18.2. Main political parties
18.2.1. At the national level, the United States makes use of a two-party system. Today the United States has two major political parties. One is the Democratic Party, whose origins go back to the nation's third president, Thomas Jefferson and was founded in 1828. The other is the Republican Party, which was formed in the 1854, by people in the states of the North and West, such as Abraham Lincoln, who wanted the government to prevent the expansion of slavery into new states then being admitted to the union. Each party has its own emblem – the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey.
18.2.2. Party membership in any American party is formal. Members are not registered; they do not have cards and do not pay membership dues. The main representative of the Democratic party are Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton. The main representatives of the Republican party are Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, John McCain.
18.2.3. Most Americans today consider the Democratic Party the more liberal party. As they understand it the Democrats believe that the federal government and the state governments should be active in providing social and economic programmers for those who need them, such as the poor, the unemployed or students who need money to go to college. Republicans are not opposed to such programmers but believe they are too costly to taxpayers. They put more emphasis on encouraging private enterprise in the belief that a strong private sector makes citizens less dependent on government.
18.2.4. There are other, smaller parties in the United States besides the two major parties. None of these smaller parties has enough popular support to win a presidential election. But some of them are very strong in certain cities and states. They can have their own state or city candidates elected, or can determine which major party wins by supporting one or the other.
The Green Party has been active as a third partysince the 1980s. Greens emphasizeenvironmentalism, non-hierarchicalparticipatory democracy,social justice, respect fordiversity,peaceandnon-violence.
The Libertarian Party is an Americanpolitical partyfounded in1971. Thepolitical platformof the Libertarian Party reflects that group's particular brand oflibertarianism, favoring minimally regulated,laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulatedmigration across borders, andnon-interventionismin foreign policy that respectsfreedom of tradeand travel to all foreign countries.
The Constitution Party is a conservativeUnited States political party. It was founded in 1992. The Constitution Party advocates a platform that purports to reflect theFounding Fathers'original intentof theU.S. Constitution, principles found in theU.S. Declaration of Independence, and morals taken from theBible.
18.3. Main political leaders.
18.3.1. President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) ushered in a more activist approach to governing. As president, he sought to accelerate economic growth by increasing government spending and cutting taxes, and he pressed for medical help for the elderly, aid for inner cities, and increased funds for education. Kennedy also stepped up American space exploration. After his death, the American space program surpassed Soviet achievements and culminated in the landing of American astronauts on the moon in July 1969.
18.3.2. President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) had been the little-known governor of Georgia, but after a remarkable rise to national prominence, he defeated Republican President Gerald R. Ford. Unlike every Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945), he did not propose any new or sweeping solutions to social problems. Carter, unlike any of the other Democratic presidents in the XX century, did keep the United States out of any foreign wars, and he substantially increased the percentage of minorities and women in high-level bureaucratic and judicial positions. Opinion polls regularly showed that the public liked Carter as a person but lacked faith in his leadership abilities. Following his presidency, Carter remained active in public life and gained new respect as an effective peacemaker, acting as a mediator in several international conflicts. He also used his influence as a former president to call attention to economic and social problems in developing countries and to promote human rights and democracy. In 2002 Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his accomplishments in these areas.
18.3.3. President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) based his economic program on the theory of supply-side economics, which advocated reducing tax rates so people could keep more of what they earned. Reagan also undertook a campaign to reduce or eliminate government regulations affecting the consumer, the workplace, and the environment. At the same time, he feared that the United States had neglected its military in the wake of the Vietnam War, so he successfully pushed for big increases in defense spending.
18.3.4. President Bill Clinton (1993-2000) declared that the era of "big government" was over in America. He pushed to strengthen market forces in some sectors, working with Congress to open local telephone service to competition. He also joined Republicans to reduce welfare benefits. Still, although Clinton reduced the size of the federal work force, the government continued to play a crucial role in the nation's economy. Most of the major innovations of the New Deal, and a good many of the Great Society, remained in place. He appointed minorities and women to high-level positions. In March 1999 under his order NATO forces began bombing Serbia and Serbian targets in Kosovo, parts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.