U.S.

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 US – foreign policy

isolatisonism interventionism
 focus on internal affairs & not mingle in  country´s willingness to interfere in global conflicts
foreign conflicts in order to promote its own vision of the world &
 Monroe Doctrina ( “America to the perserve its political & economvgic power
Americans“)  Cold War: fear of a communisr expansion;
 entered in both World Wars I+II actively fought wars in parts of the world
( WW2 = global police & peacemaker (Korea,Vietnam,Gulf region)
 War on Terror: rid the world of an “axis of
evil“
 “policeman of the world“: enemies & admirers;
brining freedom & democracy to the world;
enemies ideologically biased

Change after WW 2:
 two super-powers = USA+USSR

US expectionalism
 the mission of John Withtrop 1630 “City upon a hill“
 acquire new lands, to bring peace, safety above all, freedom & equality to the world 
in the name of liberty + democracy
containment
= strategy of "containment" is best known as a Cold War foreign policy of the United States
and its allies to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II.
 World Revolution?

aftermath
Guantanamo – detention camp
= the detention camp was established to detain extraordinarily dangerous people, to
interrogate detainees in an optimal setting, and to prosecute detainees for war crimes
detainees  terrorist?
guards  feels sorry, guilty, wants to apologize, understanding what detention felt like,
responsibility for actions, wants to clear guilty conscience
“War on Terror“ , 9/11
1993: World Trade Center Bombing
1995: Oklahoma City Bombing
2001: terrorist attacks on World Trade Center & Prntagon
September 11 – facts
 four planes were hijacked after leaving East Coast airports for California
 two collided with the Twin Towers of World Trade Center
 third into Pentagon & fourth failed its mission
 3,000 people killed & 6,000 injured
 islamistic background: al-Quaeda (Osama bin Laden)
 attack on western culture & the US´s standing in the world
 George W. Bush declared “War on Terrorism“
 anti-terrorism legislation, security services & law enforcement agencies = anti-Muslim
feelings / discrimination (mistrust, feat, hatred, racism)
“War on Terrorism“
 announced by U.S. President George W. Bush after 9/11
 several wars in Iraq (2003-2011) & Afghanistan (2001)
 Obama declared 2013  military action against the so-called Islamic State terrorists /
military presence in Afghanistan
 terrorism = unlawful acts of violence that are intentionally directed at civilians to create
fear & confusion
 by radical religiously & politically motivated groups
 consequence: justification of fighting terrorism as pretext to pursue almost any military /
political goals bc. there´s no clear-cut enemy (aggressions)
 waging war: against terrorism bc. by harming & potentially destroying whole countries in
retribution for terrorist attacks, the breeding ground on which terrorism flourishes only
becomes larger
 governments: reduced civil liberties in the process & on the pretext of enhancing
security, turned into surveillance societies
immigration
timeline of immigration
early 17th century colonial immigration
1607 British settlers came to found colonies; first British settlement in
Jamestown Virginia
1620 Pilgrim Father sailed to the „New World“  Puritans = English
protestants not content with the Church of England; searching for a
“New Canaan“ (America as land of “milk & honey)
17th century first African Americans were shipped to the colonies as slaves
mid-19th up to biggest wave of voluntary immigration  central & western Europe
early 20th century & Scandinavian
1804 Going West  white settlers moved westward; U.S president
Jefferson expedtition across western North America
 1808 foreign slave trade becomes illegal; 50,000 slaves become first
“illegal aliens“ in the US
1814-1850 Native Americans are exempted from naturalization & forced from
their tribal land. At the same time the slave population increases
dramatically.
1816 Irish immigration to the US begins; 5 million Irish immigrants will
come to the US during this century. Anti-Irish sentiment takes root.
1845 Manifest Destiny = justify the westward expansion & occupation of
foreign territory & near extinction of Native Americans or military
inventions with thousands of casualities for the sake of democracy
& civilisation
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American war; US
acqires Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California & part
of Utah & Nevada
1865 Civil War created economic problems  people were forced to
migrate to other regions to survive
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act passes, which bars Chinese immigrants from
entering the U.S. Beginning in the 1850s = steady flow of Chinese
workers had immigrated to America.
1891 Immigration Act further excludes who can enter the United States,
barring the immigration of polygamists, people convicted of certain
crimes, and the sick or diseased
January 1892 Ellis Island, the United States’ first immigration station, opens in
New York Harbor
1909 play The Melting pot = metaphor for US
1910 Mexican Revolution = Mexicans cross the border into US; Angel
Island Immigration station opens
1922 US Supreme Court decides that Japanese can´t apply for citizenship
May 1924 Immigration Act limits the number of immigrants allowed into the
United States yearly through nationality quotas
1948 nation’s first refugee and resettlement law to deal with the influx of
Europeans seeking permanent residence in the United States after
World War II
1950s / 1960s Civil Rights Movement  fighting for equal rights for African
American Americans
after 1965 Race-based quotas were abolished; Asian & Latin American people
made up large proportions of immigrants
2008 Obama first African American president ; improvements for the
children of illegal immigrants
2017 “zero tolerance“ policy towards illegal immigration; planst o built a
wall at US-Mexican border

American Dream
= a concept of self-definition for the country, it promotes the ideal that everyone can be
successful in America if they work hard enough that the country offers equal opportunities &
social mobility to everyone.
“From dishwasher to millionaire“
“From rags to riches“
1. Where does it come from?
 protestant settlers
“If people work hard & successfully, God is happy“

2. main of American values

 freedom of the individual
 self-reliance
 self-discipline
 self-sufficiency
{if you work hard & follow this, you´ll suceed in your life & job }
3. criticism & its situation today
 the Dream is no longer alive
 social mobility doesn´t exist / one of the least socially mobile countrys od the
developed world
 racism, intolerance, scepticsim against foreigners = challemging the concept of a
country that welcomes everyone with open arms
 minorities / economic crisis / huge debts / health insurence

4. representation literature / music

 Great Gatsby (Francis Scott Fitzgerald): American 1920s, rise & fall of a
millionaire
 Angela´s Ashes (Frank McCourt): poverty of immigrants

Inequality / equality & the American Dream

 inequality
 income
 gender / religious / ethic / cultural background
 racism & discrimination
 in schools / when it comes to education (classes)
 in courts (judge – jury)
 growing gap between the American Dream & country´s undeniable inequality
 middle class suffers from the rough side of a dynamic economy (insecurities)
 classic white-collar jobs (data processing) can be outsourced more easily in today´s
globalized world
 equality
 in society = multiculturalism / diversity
 a value of every city / household / system etc.
symbols
Declaration of Independence (4 July, 1776):
„We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness.“
 focuses on human rights & equality of all human beings
 natural consequences: democracy & freedom
 1776: equality didn´t apply to women / people who were not white
 ideal to aspire to & a model to copy by people & governments throughout the world
Statue of Liberty:
 given by France in 1886 to celebrate the first 100 years of American independance from
Britain
 robed woman holding a lighted torch in her right & a tablet in her left hand showing the
date of the Declaration of Independance
 underneath right foot the remains of broken shackles
 crown's spikes represent the oceans and continents
 the position of the statue at the entrance of the port of New York, it was the gateway to the
United States for decades
 most famous American icons  symbolizing enlightement, independance, liberty &
freedom, freedom of peoples against its oppressors
Ellis Island:
 the place where most immiggrants first set on American soil
 island of hopes but also an island of tears for a number of immigrants, as some of them
were detained there for legal / medica l reasons & sent back to their home countries
 gateaway to a new – better – life for the majority of immigrants
 federal immigration station from 1892 to 1954
Uncle Sam:
 represent the US nation and the positive, national self-image of the USA
 dark blue jacket & red and white striped trousers
 hidecorated top hat bears the well-known "Stars and Stripes"
 symbolic of the American Dream
 national arrogance or imperialistic tendencies
society
class structure
The Upper Class:
 the highest socioeconomic bracket in the social hierarchy and is defined by its
members’ great wealth and power
 accumulate wealth through investments and capital gains, rather than through annual
salaries
 all households with a net worth of $1 million or more are considered “rich. dividing
the rich into two sub- groups: the rich and the super-rich
The Upper Middle Class:
 people within the middle class that have high educational attainment, high salaries,
and high status jobs
 substantially less wealth and prestige than the upper class, but a higher standard of
living than the lower-middle class or working class
  white-collar professionals who have a high degree of autonomy in their work. The
most common professions of the upper-middle class tend to center on conceptualizing,
consulting, and instruction
 educational attainment: Educational attainment is a term commonly used by
statisticians to refer to the highest degree of education an individual has completed.
The Lower Middle Class:
 some education and comfortable salaries, but with socioeconomic statuses below the
upper-middle class
 end to hold low status professional or white collar jobs, such as school teacher, nurse,
or paralegal
 college education: Education beyond secondary school, usually culminating in a
bachelor’s degree and serving as a necessary credential for middle class occupations
The Working Class:
 individuals and households with low educational attainment, low status occupations,
and below average incomes
 high school diploma or some college education, and may work in low-skilled
occupations like retail sales or manual labor
 in industrialized economies and in the urban areas of non-industrialized economies
 Blue Collar: Describes working-class occupations, especially those involving manual
labor
The Lower Class:
 those at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy who have low education, low
income, and low status jobs
 low educational attainment and disabilities are two of the main reasons individuals can
either struggle to find work or fall into the lower class
 ndividuals working easily-filled employment positions; these positions typically have
little prestige or economic compensation, and do not require workers to have a high
school education
 Poverty line: This is the threshold of poverty used by the U.S. Census Bureau to define
the minimum income one must earn to meet basic material needs
social security
social welfare = most contenious issue in the US
 Republican: social welfare contradicts the American ideal of self-reliance and being
responsible for one´s own fate; Republican presidents have ever since tried to erode
or stop future developments (Trump against “Obama Care“)
 Democratic: President Johnson laid the foundations of a social security sytem in the
1960s

 the USA remains the only major industrial state without a nationwide consistent
health insurance programme
multiculturalism & identity
Hispanic & Latinos
identity:
1. by their families country of origin  50%
2. American  25%
3. Hispanic / Latino  25%
= how American they feel depends on the generation
other aspects to describe identity:
 nationality
 personal values
 behaviour / appearance
 religion & beliefs
 where youu live & where you come from
the salad bow (metaphor)
 describes the USA´s multicultural society
 the original ingredientsremain visible / combine to make a successful whole
 different ethnic groups are encouraged to keep their distinct backgrounds
 necessary to make up the whole of the USA´s society
race relations
= how members of various ethnic groups interact & are treated, for instance in the economy /
politics but also in society at large
 maintaining diversity in a peaceful & functioning multicultural society have always
prevented major challenges
 after 1960s: optmistic that society was now more open & tolerant & that sytemic
racism had become a thing of the past
 African Americans: don´t have the same access to educational opportunities & more
prone to poverty than the white majority
 treatment by police: African Americans being disproportionately targeted & often
even killed by the police the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement formed
 protests against still widespread racist practices
Civil Rights Movement (1950s & 1960s)
 fighting for equal rights for African Americans
 back to American Civil War = slavery was abolished (13th Amendment, 1865), African
Americans were granted full citizenship rights (14th Amendment, 1868)
 made them theoretically equal to their white fellow citizens in the South of the
USA; discrimnatory practices continued & constitutionalised in the Supreme Courd´s
Plessy vs, Ferguson ruling (1896)
 “separate but equal“ facilities constitutional = segregation in buses, restaurants,
hotels, schools, theatres, etc. = “Jim Crow laws“
 protest actions:
 Montogomery Bus Boycott by Rosa Parks = restaurant sit-ins / marches
  “i have a dream“ speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  non-violant
resistance
 Black Power Movement = saw non-violent resistance as not effective enough
 Civil Rights Act 1964: outlawed any discrimination based on race, colour,
religion, sex or national origin
 Voting Rights Act 1965: secured the African Americans´ voting rights
 Barack Obama: first African American president in 2008  important
victory of the Civil Rights Movement´s aims

 race relations continued inequality in areas like work, housing, education, wealth,
imprisonment etc. (BLM Movement / unfair police targeting )
America´s gun culture
background information:
 pioneers needed guns in order to survive: protect family from wild animals & marauding
groups
 Men, women & children were used to handling guns
 farming & hunting main ways of sustaining a family = use of guns was a normal everyday
activity
 part of America´s national identity (2nd Amentment)
 88 guns per 100 people in the US
 58% of Americans think that a strickt law against gun use would mean a risk to the safety
of their families; 54% think gun control can reduce mass shootings
 “your home is your castle law“: 25 have adopted the law that give homeowners liberty to
shoot people on their property without fear of persecution; 10 states restrict / prohibit the
carrying of firearms in pucblic (National Rifle Association)
 shootings at malls, cinemas & high schools rise with a sad regularity = “never again
campaign“
 Columbine Highschool Massacre
2nd amendment
 part of Bill of Right (15th December 1791) = comprises laws concerned with personal
freedoms & rights; reaction to people fearing too much power of the federal
goverment
„A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people
to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed“
 individual right of gun possession is controversially discussed
 stricter gun control cite mass shootings as well as alarming numbers of gun-related
deaths as evidence of the dangers
 gun ownership propagates culture of violence  gun law proponents
 individual gun ownership = sign of personal freedom & democratisation, self-defence,
successful resistance to oppression
 mantra of NRA:
„Only Way To Stop A Bad Guy With A Gun Is With A Good Guy With A Gun“
  position in favour of individual gun ownership
Facts
 citizens and legal residents must be at least 18 years of age to purchase shotguns or rifles
and ammunition
 fugitives, people deemed a danger to society and patients involuntarily committed to
mental institutions are among those who may not purchase firearms
 1968 Gun Control Act  requires holders to conduct a background check

Arguments for & against guns

pro con
 guns don’t kill people, people kill  since many crimes involve guns,
people; firearms are a tool, and they restricting gun ownership would reduce
can be used for good or bad acts getting the gun crime rate
rid of a particular tool will not stop  mass shootings committed by
people committing acts of violence teenagers, mentally disturbed people or
 guns are a necessary tool in a violent zero tolerance individuals wouldn´t
world; they provide protection from longer be possible (427 mass shooting
muggings, home invasions, terrorist in 2017)
incidents, and mass shootings  a crime victim who has a gun might be
 the 2nd Amendment protects the killed instantly because the criminal
civilians´ right to own a gun feels threatened
 citizens are a protection against  legalized gun ownership increases the
government tyranny risk of guns falling into the hands of
 Police are often simply unable to children  more fatal accidents
protect all citizens from violent crimes  suicides & crimes of passion are easier
 women, disabled people, pensioners & to commit with high gun availability
children face higher risk of face a bc. they´re impulsive acts & reaction is
higher risk of becoming a crime victim instantly possible if gun is at hand
because they have no means of self-  guns are not a defence against tyranny;
defense the rule of law is the only defence
 criminals will always be able to obtain against tyranny; the idea that armed
weapons & seldom use the legal way to militias could overthrow a professional
do so in the firts place  gun control army is laughable
by law wouldn´t reduce the gun crime  the target group of the 2nd Amendment
rate was the militia, i.e. the National guard
 victims can defend & protect and not the civilians
themselves & their family ; gun control
would leave the victim helpless
political system
federalism = a form of government in which a central government shares the power with
regional or state governments; the separation of powers is fixed in the constitution; federal
democracy
American Constitution
 oldest written & codified constitution which is still in force as the country´s supreme
law
 delineates the form of government with its separation of powers into executive,
legislative & judicary branches + federalism
checks & balances

President:
 protect the American Constitution & enforce the laws made by Congress
 Head of Executive & Head of State
 commander-in-chief of the USA´s armed forces
 veto Congressional law & appoints judges for the Supreme Court
 elected for 4 years ; maximum of 2 terms
The Congress:
 overrule a presidential veto = impeachment means president´s removal from office
 chambers make the laws of the United States; can initiate constitutional amendments
& control the federal budget
  HR = members from all states are elected for 2 years
Supreme Court:
 declare laws unconstitutional
 consists of 9 judges = serve for a lifetime; impeached or resign voluntary

US elections 2020
partisan division
= the rancour & unwillingness to compromise with which the two big political parties in the
USA the Republican and the Democratic Party often oppose each other
parties
Democratic Party Republican Party (GOP)
 founded in 1828, oldest political party in  founded in 1854
the world  Promoting: conservatism, lower taxes
 Promoting: social & economic equality, & a free market capitalism; in favour
supporting a welfare state, moderate of strong national defence, gun rights
governmental intervention in the & traditional values
economy self-reliance + independance
 agenda: environmental protection,  voters from rural areas, strongly
stricter gun control, immigration religious people (Evangelicals)
reform & equality for same-sex  until 2020, 19 Republicans Presidents;
marriage first Abraham Lincoln = abolishing
 until 2020, 15 Democrats Presidents; slavery, assassinated in 1865
Barack Obama 2008-2016

election Tuesday, November 3, 2020

candidates: Trump (Republican)+ Mike Pence vs. Biden (Democrat)+ Kamela Harris

1. plans & promises

Trump:
 “Keep America Great“ & “Promises Made, Promises kept“
 create 10 million more jobs
 decision (taxes, immigrants, trade) on benefit of American workers & families
 protect borders from other countries
Biden:
 a tale oft wo Tax policies = Trump rewards wealth; Biden rewards work
  racial equality across American economy
 immigration system that powers the economy & refelcts the values
 build up a new health care system
 protect social security
2. election & voting
prior to election day election day after election day
 each state, all parties with  voters of each state vote for  electors meet to vote gor
presidential candidate choose presidential candidate; president; electoral votes
potential electors another voting to select their tallied by Congress
 numbers of electors state´s electors  270 votes majority
=
Representation in Congress

3. Why do they vote?

 important right & responsibility that U.S. citizens have
 tell the government what they want it to do
 promises, services, taxes

4. Who can vote ?

 18 years old
 homeless  allowed to vote in all 50 states
 resided for 30 days or more in state / country (before election day)

5. results of the election

important terms & concepts
platform a political party´s formal written statement of its
principles & goals
running mate the choosen candidate picks a politicak colleague to run
with him or her in the presidential ecelction & who-if
elected will become Vice President
democrats advocate or supporter of democracy.
as a democrat, a member of the Democratic Party.
presidential candidates the person who will hold the office of head of state of
the United States government
electoral college The body in the United States, which elects the
President and Vice-President every four years. It
consists of 538 electors who are sent by the 50 states
and the Federal District for the presidential elections.
The number of electors is measured by the number of
members of Congress (Senate and House of
Representatives) allocated to a state.
campaign to try to achieve something, such as the election of
someone to a political office, by taking part in a number
of planned activities
inauguration the act of officially putting someone into an important
position, or the ceremony at which this is done
conventions a large meeting or conference, especially of members of
a political party or a particular profession or group ; an
assembly of the delegates of a political party to select
candidates for office
republicans a member or supporter of the Republican Party
Winner-takes-all who wins a simple majority in a state unites all the
electors of that state
polls the places where people vote in a political election
primaries a preliminary election to appoint delegates to a party
conference or to select the candidates for a presidential
election
caucus a meeting at which local members of a political party
register their preference among candidates running for
office or select delegates to attend a convention