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Each of the fifty states of the United States has its own government. These governments are very similar to the national government in form, each having its own executive (headed by a governor), its own legislature and its own judiciary. State government responsibilities are quite broad, and include fields as diverse as environment, roads and vehicle licensing, public safety and corrections, business regulation and licensing. States are responsible for policing, education and public health, although in these areas the federal government also has much responsibility. Some powers are shared concurrently, but in other cases there is no clear division, and there are frequent disputes between the states and Washington, DC over jurisdiction.
State legislatures are bicameral, with houses of representatives and senates mirroring the national structure; Nebraska is unique in being unicameral. Legislators, like governors, are usually elected on a four-year term. In many states the legislatures are dominated by representatives from rural areas, who are often more conservative (and Republican) than their urban counterparts and have little interest in or affinity with issues affecting the cities. The larger cities in turn tend to seek to guard their own privileges and are reluctant to recognize the authority of the state government—New York City and Los Angeles, CA, for example, are virtually independent of state control as far as day-to-day administration goes.
State judiciaries consist of several types of trial courts and appellate courts, headed by a state supreme court. The decisions of the latter can usually be referred to the federal Supreme Court in Washington. In most states judges are elected; terms of four years are most common, but some terms are for as little as two years, and in Rhode Island and Massachusetts judges are elected for life.
States themselves are divided into various subordinate levels of government, including counties, cities, towns and townships. These are responsible for exercising various powers devolved to them by the state government, such as education, fire and police services, waste disposal and so on.
As noted previously, conflicts between state governments and the federal government are common. Most of these concern the infringement of the jurisdiction of one party by officials of the other. Many federal agencies (the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and so on) have wide-ranging powers which allow them to usurp jurisdiction from state authorities. This is often strongly resented by the latter, so also is the fact that cases concerning jurisdiction are always heard by federal courts.
Perhaps the most famous and bitter conflict in recent years was that which took place in the 1960s over the desegregation of schools. In forcing the Southern states to accept mixed-race schools, federal Attorney-General Robert Kennedy used the courts and even mobilized some elements of the armed forces to push federal policy through (see Civil Rights movement). All the protests of the state governments were ineffectual in the face of a determined effort to enforce federal policy.
Industry:Culture
Earl Tupper’s refined plastics, used in Second World War gas masks, created a classic American brand among postwar families who relied on its airtight storage containers for food storage between shopping trips. Unsuccessful in stores, by the late 1940s, Tupperware developed direct distributors and Tupperware parties, which mingled cooking and entertaining demonstrations, games, snacks, sociability and sales for female buyers. The company sells more than $1 billion annually in household, educational and related goods; 85 percent of sales occur outside the US. After fifty years of parties, it has experimented with mall kiosks, corporate-controlled online sales, commer cials and Disney tie-ins to reach working parents and new consumers.
Industry:Culture
Early settlers in America clung to rivers to find safe ports, sustain settlements and then open up the continental heartland. Rivers have provided lifelines for trade and agriculture and power for industry. With deindustrialization, they have opened vast opportunities for recreation in post-industrial cities and suburbs. Villages, cities and regions are bound to the identities of their waterways. Rivers also demarcate state and international boundaries, like the wandering Rio Grande between the Southwest and Mexico.
Early Northeast colonies depended on multiple exploitations of rivers—the Charles in Boston, the Hudson and the East River in New York City, the Delaware and Schuylkill in Philadelphia, PA and the Savannah in Savannah, GA. Some rivers are connected to fertile watersheds, while others became impassable as the land rose inland, producing fall-line divisions in the societies of the South.
Further inland, twenty-two states are united by the Mississippi-Missouri system, roughly 4,000 miles (6,400 km) in length. Tributaries like the Ohio and the Red River linked cities and markets from Pittsburgh, PA to St. Louis to New Orleans. The “mighty” Mississippi also influenced art, literature and other media, from Mark Twain to the musical Showboat or Pare Lorentz’s 1938 documentary The River.
In the dry West, the 1,400 mile (2,240 km) Colorado, which carved the Grand Canyon, also sustained many Native American groups. Yet this river has been tamed for both energy and the population demands of Sunbelt cities like Phoenix, AZ and Los Angeles, CA. The Colorado now operates under a contentious seven-state compact representing those who claim its water and hydroelectric power. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles River has been reduced to concrete channels. The Columbia in Washington and the Sacramento in Northern California also represent important Western watersheds.
The relationship of human and river has been transformed throughout the growth of industrial America. Dams on the Niagara, above its majestic falls, and Hoover Dam on the Colorado have powered regions; other dams have been used to control the devastating floods of the MississippiMissouri system or to recreate the upper South through the Tennessee Valley Authority. Industrial pollution also killed off the aquatic life before stricter pollution controls began to revitalize rivers as centers for boating, fishing and even swimming. Hence, rivers have become landscapes for post-industrial development from the Charles to Savannah. This has also led to movements to remove century-old dams and to reconstitute nature.
Human versus the river—running the rapids in Georgia in Deliverance (1972) or fighting the floods of the Missouri in The River (1984)—has become an American emblem of strength and endurance, while Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It (1992) nostalgically explores family and love through fly-fishing in Montana. Rivers figure in generations of popular songs (“Sewanee,” “Ol’ Man River,” Ike and Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary”), reflective journals about nature and Sunday family outings.
Reflecting the bright lights of Manhattan, the red walls of the Grand Canyon, or the ivory tranquillity of Washington, DC, rivers frame the image of American lives as well.
Industry:Culture
Ecofeminism is a variant of social ecology, combining the goals of the environmental movement with those of the women’s movement. Ecofeminism posits a close connection between nature and women as categories and experiences. In post-structural critiques of dominant Western culture, eco-feminists such as Vandana Shiva and Carolyn Merchant suggest that women and nature have suffered equally from patriarchal oppression.
Ecofeminism simultaneously acknowledges this twin oppression and embraces the positive connotations shared between women and nature. While ecofeminism is vulnerable to accusations of essentialism and biological reduction, the affinity between women and nature is said to be a model for environmental care.
Industry:Culture
Economic development strategy signed into law by Clinton in 1993 (appropriating earlier Republican ideas to revitalize neighborhoods through entrepreneurial zones with minimal government interference). Block grants of $100 million were given to cities like Philadelphia, PA/Camden and Baltimore, MD, as well as to rural areas to encourage industrial relocation into specific areas through tax grants, job training and placement and other assistance as well as general neighborhood programs administered under community boards. Doubts have been raised about the long-term success of these investments, which recall the Model Cities programs of the 1960s, despite a sharper economic focus.
Industry:Culture
Editorial cartoons, evolving from the art of caricature, normally appear on the editorial or Op-Ed pages of American newspapers. Generally single-panel drawings with some text, they provide entertainment along with political commentary since the central characters usually caricature actual people and issues. Prominent modern editorial cartoonists include Patrick Oliphant, Signe Wilkinson and Garry Trudeau (famous for Doonesbury, a “political cartoon” in comic-strip format). The Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning has existed since 1922.
Industry:Culture
Educational models and opportunities in the United States reflect and embody national issues of socio-economic power and mobility and are influenced as well by how the United States perceives itself in the international arena. When internal discord related to the diversity in American society comes to the forefront of national attention, the focus in education is on how best to manage that diversity When the United States perceives itself in or on the verge of international threat or weakness, the focus in education shifts to how best to reposition the United States to reestablish its power.
While both these national and international frames of reference lead to the construction of educational models which facilitate and restrict educational opportunities, both responses to international threat and to national issues of socioeconomic power and mobility are played out in relation to a fairly consistent socio-political hierarchy of power, privilege and access within which people are positioned. Where individuals are located in the hierarchy depends on who they are (defined by race, class, gender, etc.), what role they are playing (professor, parent, teacher, student, etc.) and in what context (university public school, alternative school, etc.). Those at the top of the hierarchy those who generally hold most of the positions of power in schools and constitute the hegemonic culture in society tend to be professional, white, upper-middle class and male.
As the group in power, those at the top of this hierarchy tend to embrace a model of education whose aim is the maintenance of the status quo through the standardization, deculturalization, acculturation and stratification of a diverse population. Based on a conservative, deterministic, right-wing perspective held by current educational theorists such as E.D. Hirsch, the goal of this model is the maintenance of schooling in the United States in the image constructed by the culture of power, and Social Darwinism is its extreme. Most public schools and many mainstream private schools tend towards this model in more or less subtle attempts to keep the existing socio-political hierarchy intact.
In opposition to and in ongoing tension with the conservative model is a model of education committed to challenging the status quo through critical analysis of society and the striving for equity social justice and the empowerment of all US citizens. Based on constructivism, which assumes that knowledge and understanding must be built between and among people and ideas in context and thus vary across people, times and places, this progressive, left-wing model has been advocated by educational theorists such as John Dewey and cultural relativism is its extreme. Some public schools, some private schools and most alternative educational programs tend towards this model in an attempt to challenge the status quo and facilitate educational access and opportunity to a wider range of people in the socio-political hierarchy Furthermore, measures such as affirmative action and the educational projects of special interest groups (see education: values and beliefs) are also attempts to work against socio-economic inequities which have become institutionalized.
At the height of the Cold War, education in the United States focused on standardization and the production of students who could compete in the global economy The most significant world event following the Second World War that had a profound and lasting effect on education in the United States was the launching of Sputnik in 1957.
This event prompted fears that the Soviet Union was surpassing the United States socially economically and militarily partially through better preparation of students in the sciences and mathematics. In response, education was catapulted onto the national agenda, and there was an increase in spending of federal monies on education. The National Defense Education Act loans (1958) were created to support pre-college curriculum revision and college attendance for a broadening middle class. The aim was to produce a more highly educated citizenry as a bulwark against communism, a residual from the McCarthy era in the early 1950s, and other international threats. Education during this time focused on traditional subjects and conservative approaches to teaching them, thus reflecting an educational model focused on developing a uniform and unified, goal-directed curriculum which would better prepare students in math and the sciences.
At times of greater internal conflict, issues of diversity and access within the country become foregrounded. So, for instance, with some of the social and political resistance and fragmentation of the 1960s—the civil rights and antiwar movements, widespread challenges to institutional authority the free speech and women’s liberation movements—calls for a more inclusive curriculum and a more critical perspective influenced the schools. At the same time, legislation such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) provided money to school districts for curriculum materials and resources and buildings—money allocated based on enrollment levels and degree of need (towards urban and rural areas), with increasing support for poorer districts. Efforts to educate a wider band of the population also included open enrollment (1968–70) at community colleges.
The 1970s saw the rise of what was known as a back-to-basics movement. In 1983 publication of a report called A Nation At Risk again raised fears that the United States wasn’t competing well enough with Japan and West Germany and its world standing and standard of living were in jeopardy. Concerns for educational reform became an increasing focus and national agenda item. In the mid-1980s, John Goodlad (A Place Called School, 1984) offered system-wide and structural critiques of schools and suggestions for reform, whereas Theodore Sizer (Horace’s School, 1984) created a fictional character who epitomized what schooling should be and argued for more authentic, progressive, teacher-supported, participatory active critical thinking, and the empowerment of teachers and students.
The tension between conservative models of education to maintain the status quo and progressive, critical models aimed at addressing diverse needs and offering greater access continued to inform the debates about education and society in the 1980s and 1990s. In these decades it became more explicit that educational models and opportunities reflect and embody national issues of socioeconomic power and mobility. Although location of individuals in the socio-political hierarchy of power and access in the United States depends in part on who they are and their positions, the United States is a meritocracy and there is a rhetorical commitment to educational access and opportunity which suggests that anyone who has the will and tenacity can improve his or her position in society. Like other versions of the American dream, public education is free and available to all, and therefore, according to the rhetoric, what one achieves is directly proportional to how hard one works.
Generally ascension of the socio-political hierarchy requires the successful completion of time and coursework in, degrees conferred by and performances defined by legitimate educational institutions and the accompanying acquisition and appropriation of the values, knowledge, language and behaviors of the dominant culture. If one successfully negotiates this set of hurdles one may earn the right either to reinforce or to criticize and attempt to change existing educational structures and practices and, by extension, the socio-political status quo. However, critics suggest that there is only a surface commitment to equal opportunity democracy and social justice, and they raise questions about whether this is really the American educational agenda. They ask who actually gets access and opportunity and support, and at what cost. These are questions most relevant to those who do not belong to the culture of power, who argue that there are costs associated both with remaining in their positions and with attempts to reposition themselves. Some, such as Richard Rodriguez, argue that to succeed in school and society one has to conform to the status quo and adopt the values of the dominant culture and, in doing so, abandon one’s home culture. Others such as Lisa Delpit (Other People’s Children, 1985) suggest that one can maintain one’s own cultural identity and appropriate the discourses and practices necessary for success in school and society.
In the 1990s, there have been, on the one hand, national attempts at standardization, such as the Bush administration’s call for national standards (Goals 2000)—standards by which all students would be measured—and the Clinton administration’s argument that all children have a right to quality education, but that education should look like and be tested according to conservative and standardized testing. On the other hand, there has been a proliferation of educational options both within and outside the public-school system, reflecting a growing dissatisfaction with any single, standardized model.
The various educational models and opportunities which exist in the United States, then, are emphasized or ignored in response to attitudes towards diverse peoples and their educational needs, particular interests within national boundaries and by perceptions of waxing and waning international threats. Individuals and groups must strive with greater or lesser degrees of support to negotiate the American educational system.
Industry:Culture
Eero Saarinen’s glistening Gateway Arch towers over this Mississippi River port, marking it as both a hub in transcontinental journeys westward and a crossroads on the Midwest’s North-South axis since its foundation by the French (1764). These routes fostered a diverse city, with German immigrants alongside Southern African Americans and Midwestern farmers. In its heyday St. Louis became known as a center for finance, manufacturing, education (Washington University), arts (blues and jazz) and information (the Pulitzer family’s Post-Dispatch). Its sports teams have included the historic Cardinals (baseball), the Blues (hockey) and the Rams (football).
Yet, choked by burgeoning suburbs and deindustrialization, St. Louis’ population declined 50 percent between 1970 and 1990, reaching 339, 316 in 1998 Census Bureau estimates. The city and the more depressed and predominantly African American East St.
Louis, Illinois, have come to embody issues of dualization in post-industrial American urbanism.
Industry:Culture
Eight states—Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming—encompass a territory larger than Western Europe (864,000 square miles), shaped by the dramatic Rocky Mountains. This region encompasses the continental divide, separating tributaries flowing to the Pacific from those that eventually feed into the Gulf. It also holds Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Yet, despite mighty rivers like the Snake and Colorado, water is a precious, contested commodity amid wide deserts and deephewn canyons.
Known for vast open spaces, this region encompasses many national parks and extensive lands dedicated to grazing for ranches as well as herds of elk, bison and deer.
In addition to agricultural resources, these states also have exploited subsurface riches, including, coal, oil, natural gas, copper and uranium. Rights to these resources have often pitted environmentalists and federal regulators against citizens; responses have included the Wise Use movement as well as anti-regulation politics creating conservative Republican majorities in many areas.
Culturally and historically these states epitomize complex features associated with the West, including its Native Americans (thirty tribes and 38 million acres of reservation land) and the heritage of Spanish conquest. They have also sheltered later groups as diverse as the Mormons and Basque sheep herders. Finally, these states are strongly identified with cowboys and images of freedom, independence and relations to nature that have spurred interests by migrants escaping rustbelt cities, as well as more extreme survivalists and anti-government militias. These images often eclipse historical labor struggles and quests for civil rights by Native Americans and Hispanics.
The Rockies have undergone intensive postwar development, spurred by agriculture, energy, tourism and federal intervention, including highways as well as high-tech development. This has promoted the rapid growth of important capitals like Denver, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City and an ever-stronger presence of these states in Congress and national politics. Vacation centers from Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons, Aspen and other elite ski resorts to Santa Fe and Southwestern destinations have also appropriated the beauty and solitude of the “natural” landscape. While resorts promote outdoor activities, both winter and summer, professional teams in basketball, baseball and football have also found receptive homes in major metropolitan areas, alongside universities, the arts and other cultural development.
The rugged, natural and heroic images of the Rockies permeate media, from commercials for Coors beer (based in Colorado) to the romanticization of Montana in films like Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It (1992). Redford has also turned his Sundance Institute and annual festival in Utah into a center for independent film. In the 1990s, narratives conveyed both nostalgia and change, as a fiercely independent region faced rapid growth and celebrity status. These disruptions have evoked local questions and the specter of violence and hate crimes against the backdrop of America’s heartland.
Industry:Culture
Elementary school refers to the institution that provides the first four to eight years of a child’s formal education. The number of years of instruction varies from community to community depending on the size of the school population. At the present time, most elementary schools enroll children of ages five to twelve, kindergarten through sixth grade. Some elementary schools include a preschool. The socio-economic status among elementary students in a school is usually similar, but political and social developments may lead to the planning of enrollments so that students from diverse backgrounds attend the same school. For instance, the mainstreaming of special-needs children into classroom settings was mandated by Public Law 94–142 in 1975.
Parents who have children of elementary school age are compelled to provide institutions for their children to be educated. Schooling is free in public elementary school. In other words, taxpayers pay for school buildings, teachers’ salaries and school supplies and equipment. While their children attend school, however, parents spend more on buying books, field trips, photographs, lunches and so forth. These expenditures depend on the state or local school district.
The elementary school curriculum includes language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, music and art. Subjects such as mathematics, social studies and science encompass various content areas. For example, science programs are composed of materials from biological and physical areas, and mathematics includes work in geometry. Elementary school teachers, in contrast to secondary school teachers who are specialists in specific subjects, are expected to have and to be able to impart a broad knowledge covering each area of instruction.
The most common approach to teaching or instruction in elementary schools is currently a thematic approach in an integrative curriculum. This emphasizes thematic or problem-focused units of study and the contents are blended through activities of a variety of discipline areas. For example, a unit called “animal” might include representative activities such as a survey regarding class members’ favorite animals, making bar graphs, visiting zoos, and so forth.
American elementary schools are struggling for several reasons in their curriculum to satisfy the needs of students as well as society Multicultural education is one of the important issues in the American elementary school curriculum. It is a trial to understand students from diverse backgrounds, which include not only ethnicity or socioeconomic status, but also different intelligence levels, learning styles, and so forth. To satisfy the needs of individual students from multicultural backgrounds, elementary school teachers and educators try to find appropriate teaching strategies. At the same time, American elementary schools deal with the issue of social efficiency or the need to provide stability in the face of potentially radical social change. That mission took the form of enjoining curriculum-makers to devise programs of study that prepare individuals specifically and directly for the role they will play as adult members of the social order.
Industry:Culture
