U.S. Government and Politics

Today Craig finishes up our series on U.S. Government and Politics by talking about both the least and most important aspect of government: foreign policy. Foreign policy is important because it has the potential to affect the largest number of people, but at the same time, it tends to play a minimal role in our perception of the government (unless we’re at war). Foreign policy addresses diplomacy, security, human rights, economics, and the environment at a global scale, and we’re going to talk about how our government has approached each of these policies in the past and which it tends to hold most important. As with all things political, the decisions made in fulfilling these policies can be pretty controversial, especially when considering that the President often has the last word in these issues. We hope this series has helped you better understand the way the U.S. government works and hopefully encouraged you to participate in the political process - here or wherever you may li

Today Craig finishes up our series on U.S. Government and Politics by talking about both the least and most important aspect of government: foreign policy. Foreign policy is important because it has the potential to affect the largest number of people, but at the same time, it tends to play a minimal role in our perception of the government (unless we’re at war). Foreign policy addresses diplomacy, security, human rights, economics, and the environment at a global scale, and we’re going to talk about how our government has approached each of these policies in the past and which it tends to hold most important. As with all things political, the decisions made in fulfilling these policies can be pretty controversial, especially when considering that the President often has the last word in these issues. We hope this series has helped you better understand the way the U.S. government works and hopefully encouraged you to participate in the political process - here or wherever you may li

Today Craig finishes up our series on U.S. Government and Politics by talking about both the least and most important aspect of government: foreign policy. Foreign policy is important because it has the potential to affect the largest number of people, but at the same time, it tends to play a minimal role in our perception of the government (unless we’re at war). Foreign policy addresses diplomacy, security, human rights, economics, and the environment at a global scale, and we’re going to talk about how our government has approached each of these policies in the past and which it tends to hold most important. As with all things political, the decisions made in fulfilling these policies can be pretty controversial, especially when considering that the President often has the last word in these issues. We hope this series has helped you better understand the way the U.S. government works and hopefully encouraged you to participate in the political process - here or wherever you may li

Today Craig finishes up our series on U.S. Government and Politics by talking about both the least and most important aspect of government: foreign policy. Foreign policy is important because it has the potential to affect the largest number of people, but at the same time, it tends to play a minimal role in our perception of the government (unless we’re at war). Foreign policy addresses diplomacy, security, human rights, economics, and the environment at a global scale, and we’re going to talk about how our government has approached each of these policies in the past and which it tends to hold most important. As with all things political, the decisions made in fulfilling these policies can be pretty controversial, especially when considering that the President often has the last word in these issues. We hope this series has helped you better understand the way the U.S. government works and hopefully encouraged you to participate in the political process - here or wherever you may li

Today, Craig is going to talk about social policy - in the United States this means achieving one of three goals: protecting Americans from risk, promoting equal opportunity, or assisting the poor. Many Americans strongly believe in individualism, that is self-reliance, but since the Great Depression and the New Deal the government’s role has increased significantly. We’re going to focus on two social policies that came out of the New Deal - Social Security and what we tend to think of as “welfare” - and talk about why they’re still around now and potentially the future. These and other social policies are not without controversy, as things tend to be when involving our tax dollars, and we’re going to talk about that too. Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudiosSupport is provided by Voqal: http://www.voqal.orgAll attributed images are licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Want to f

Today, Craig is going to talk about social policy - in the United States this means achieving one of three goals: protecting Americans from risk, promoting equal opportunity, or assisting the poor. Many Americans strongly believe in individualism, that is self-reliance, but since the Great Depression and the New Deal the government’s role has increased significantly. We’re going to focus on two social policies that came out of the New Deal - Social Security and what we tend to think of as “welfare” - and talk about why they’re still around now and potentially the future. These and other social policies are not without controversy, as things tend to be when involving our tax dollars, and we’re going to talk about that too. Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudiosSupport is provided by Voqal: http://www.voqal.orgAll attributed images are licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Want to f

Today, Craig is going to talk about social policy - in the United States this means achieving one of three goals: protecting Americans from risk, promoting equal opportunity, or assisting the poor. Many Americans strongly believe in individualism, that is self-reliance, but since the Great Depression and the New Deal the government’s role has increased significantly. We’re going to focus on two social policies that came out of the New Deal - Social Security and what we tend to think of as “welfare” - and talk about why they’re still around now and potentially the future. These and other social policies are not without controversy, as things tend to be when involving our tax dollars, and we’re going to talk about that too. Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudiosSupport is provided by Voqal: http://www.voqal.orgAll attributed images are licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Want to f

Today, Craig is going to talk about social policy - in the United States this means achieving one of three goals: protecting Americans from risk, promoting equal opportunity, or assisting the poor. Many Americans strongly believe in individualism, that is self-reliance, but since the Great Depression and the New Deal the government’s role has increased significantly. We’re going to focus on two social policies that came out of the New Deal - Social Security and what we tend to think of as “welfare” - and talk about why they’re still around now and potentially the future. These and other social policies are not without controversy, as things tend to be when involving our tax dollars, and we’re going to talk about that too. Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudiosSupport is provided by Voqal: http://www.voqal.orgAll attributed images are licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Want to f

Today, Craig is going to dive into the controversy of monetary and fiscal policy. Monetary and fiscal policy are ways the government, and most notably the Federal Reserve, influences the economy - for better or for worse. So we’re going to start by looking at monetary policy, and specifically how the Federal Reserve uses interests rates as a means of controlling (or at least attempting to control) inflation. We’ll then move onto fiscal policy - that is the government’s use of taxation to raise and spend money. It’s all, well, pretty controversial, but as it seems Americans hate taxes the most, monetary policy is most often used - meaning that the Federal Reserve plays a hugely significant role in steering the U.S. economy. Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios Support is provided by Voqal: http://www.voqal.org All attributed images are licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Want

Today, Craig is going to dive into the controversy of monetary and fiscal policy. Monetary and fiscal policy are ways the government, and most notably the Federal Reserve, influences the economy - for better or for worse. So we’re going to start by looking at monetary policy, and specifically how the Federal Reserve uses interests rates as a means of controlling (or at least attempting to control) inflation. We’ll then move onto fiscal policy - that is the government’s use of taxation to raise and spend money. It’s all, well, pretty controversial, but as it seems Americans hate taxes the most, monetary policy is most often used - meaning that the Federal Reserve plays a hugely significant role in steering the U.S. economy. Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios Support is provided by Voqal: http://www.voqal.org All attributed images are licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Want