How did social movement lead to the establishment of the Social ...

[fagboi]

How did social movement lead to the establishment of the Social Security program as we know it today? Would you agree or disagree that the government should provide at least the current levels of income support for the elderly? Why?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

How does the frequency of elections in the United States compare with the frequency in other democratic countries? Why might this difference matter?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[Joc]

Answer to Question 1

An ideal response will:
1, Describe how a modest Social Security program was in place when more and more people started demanding economic justice and security. Other efforts sought to redistribute wealth and to provide better work wages and conditions. The Townsend Movement also advocated that everyone over 65 be given a 200 per month benefit. Across these movements, millions of citizens were pressing FDR and his staff, and ultimately, they got most of the changes they wanted.
2, Argue for or against the government providing income. Those who agree will mention Social Security as an important antipoverty program and how poverty has declined across the Social Security-eligible cohort, that pensions allow the elderly to live with dignity, that drastic reform to Social Security is not needed or palatable, and that privatizing Social Security would leave too many uncertainties that would prove disastrous if things go badly on Wall Street. Those who disagree will cite the notion that the program is expensive and inefficient, suggest privatizing, suggest cuts to the program to fix the economic problems, and note that there are increasingly more people drawing Social Security than there are paying into it and policies aimed at compensating for this could be bad for the economy.

Answer to Question 2

An ideal response will:
1, Indicate that elections in the United States are more numerous and frequent than in other countries.
2, Discuss the fact that the United States has a federal system of government, and the people participate in electing local, state, and national officials.
3, Indicate that in the United States political offices are independent across branches as well as levels of government.