ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the contract with America,

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Uncle Sam's army endorsement deal.

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Take a look at this excerpt.

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[ mumbles ]

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[ mumbling continues ] Republican Party.

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And the question:

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The success of the Republican Party's fiscal policies

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in the 1980s and 90s was accompanied by... what?

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ meow ] [ mumbling ]

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All right. We can see in the excerpt that the Republican Party

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wanted "the end of government that is too big, too intrusive,

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and too easy with the public's money."

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They also wanted "a Congress that respects the values

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and shares the faith of the American family."

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Well, let's check out the answers to see whether or not

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Republicans were able to close this

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contract with America.

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In the 1980s and 90s,

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was the success of the Republican Party's

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fiscal policies accompanied by

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B - the widespread adoption of conservative moral values?

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Hmm. Well, with more women entering the workforce

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and the spread of nontraditional households,

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the 80s and 90s didn't quite see the mass acceptance

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of conservative moral values.

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So it's a no-go on B.

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Was Republican fiscal success joined by

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C - the shrinkage of the federal government's size?

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Well, actually, despite the Republicans' small government rhetoric,

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the federal government actually grew in these decades,

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partly due to the durability of social safety nets

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like Social Security and Medicare.

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So not so much shrinkage as, well, the opposite of shrinkage.

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And that knocks out C and D.

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Which means that the success of the Republican Party's

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fiscal policies in the 80s and 90s was accompanied by A -

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the rising popularity of liberal social policies.

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Even with the so-called moral majority platform,

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the U.S. continued its trend toward liberal social views

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in the 1980s and 90s.

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In 1992, the Supreme Court reaffirmed a woman's

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constitutional right to an abortion,

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and despite the passage of Don't Ask, Don't Tell,

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gays and lesbians gained more mainstream acceptance

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during this time.

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So A is the correct answer.

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The two parties may have disagreed on the direction to go for the country,

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but everyone came together for the most important fight of the decade,

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getting rid of mullets.

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