How have globalization, technology, terrorism, and constitutional debates shaped modern America?
Explain the modern era: globalization and the information economy, the September 11 attacks and the renewed security-versus-liberty debate, and ongoing constitutional debates (NYS Framework 11.10, interconnectedness; ideas and beliefs).
A Framework-level answer on the modern era for the New York US History and Government Regents: globalization and the information economy, the September 11 attacks and the renewed debate over national security and civil liberties, and ongoing constitutional debates that connect to the course's Enduring Issues.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this topic is asking
The Framework wants the modern era (roughly the 1990s to the present): the rise of globalization and the information economy, the September 11 attacks and the renewed debate over national security and civil liberties, and the ongoing constitutional debates that connect modern America back to the course's Enduring Issues. The central Enduring Issues are interconnectedness and ideas and beliefs.
Globalization and the information economy
Globalization brought benefits (cheaper goods, access to global markets, cultural exchange) and costs (the loss of some manufacturing jobs to overseas competition, vulnerability to global financial crises and pandemics). This is the Enduring Issue of interconnectedness in the present day.
September 11 and the security-versus-liberty debate
This is the same Enduring Issue the exam tracks across the whole course, from Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, to the World War I Espionage Acts, to Japanese internment, to the PATRIOT Act, showing how the issue endures.
Ongoing constitutional debates
Modern America continues to wrestle with the same constitutional and civic issues that run through the course:
- The proper scope of federal power versus the states.
- The protection and expansion of individual rights.
- Immigration policy and national identity.
- The balance between security and liberty.
These living debates are exactly what the Civic Literacy Essay asks students to analyze: an Enduring Issue, its history, the efforts to address it, and its impact, connecting the past to the present.
Try this
Q1. Define globalization and state one effect on the United States. [2]
- Cue. The growing interconnection of nations through trade, communication, and technology; effects include cheaper goods and global markets, or the loss of some manufacturing jobs and greater vulnerability to global events.
Q2. Explain how the debate over the USA PATRIOT Act reflects an Enduring Issue. [2]
- Cue. It revived the tension between national security and civil liberties, the same recurring issue as Lincoln's habeas corpus suspension, the World War I Espionage Acts, and Japanese internment.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of NYSED exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Regents Jun 2022 (Part I MC, style)1 marksThe stimulus describes the USA PATRIOT Act, passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks, which expanded the government's surveillance powers to fight terrorism.
The debate over this law most clearly reflects the ongoing tension between
(1) federalism and states' rights
(2) national security and civil liberties
(3) free trade and protectionism
(4) the legislative and judicial branches
Show worked answer →
A Part I stimulus-based multiple-choice question (1 point). Correct answer: (2).
The PATRIOT Act expanded surveillance to fight terrorism, raising concerns that it infringed on privacy and civil liberties, the same security-versus-liberty tension seen in Lincoln's habeas corpus suspension, the World War I Espionage Acts, and Japanese internment. Reading the stimulus, expanded surveillance powers after 9/11, points to that tension.
Regents Aug 2023 (Part III A CRQ, style)2 marksDocument: a passage describing globalization, the growth of international trade, communication, and interdependence among nations in recent decades.
(a) Define globalization based on the document. (b) Identify one effect of globalization on the United States.
Show worked answer →
A Part III A constructed-response question (CRQ), 2 points (1 per part).
(a) 1 point: globalization is the increasing interconnection and interdependence of nations through trade, communication, and technology.
(b) 1 point: a valid effect, for example: cheaper goods and access to global markets; the loss of some manufacturing jobs to overseas competition; greater cultural exchange; or increased vulnerability to global events such as financial crises and pandemics.
Markers reward a clear definition from the document and a genuine effect on the United States.
Related dot points
- Explain the conservative resurgence under Reagan (tax cuts, deregulation, a smaller domestic government) and the end of the Cold War (the arms buildup, detente and its breakdown, the collapse of the Soviet Union) (NYS Framework 11.9, economics; power).
A Framework-level answer on the 1980s for the New York US History and Government Regents: the conservative resurgence under Reagan (tax cuts, deregulation, smaller domestic government) and the end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
- Explain the Great Society, the Vietnam War and its effects (the War Powers Resolution), and Watergate, and how Vietnam and Watergate produced a crisis of trust in government (NYS Framework 11.9, civic participation; power).
A Framework-level answer on the 1960s and 1970s for the New York US History and Government Regents: the Great Society, the Vietnam War and the War Powers Resolution, and the Watergate scandal, and how Vietnam and Watergate produced a lasting crisis of trust in government.
- Explain the World War I home front (mobilization, propaganda, the Great Migration) and the restriction of civil liberties (the Espionage and Sedition Acts, the Red Scare, and Schenck v. United States) (NYS Framework 11.6, civic participation; human rights).
A Framework-level answer on the World War I home front for the New York US History and Government Regents: mobilization and propaganda, the Great Migration, and the restriction of civil liberties through the Espionage and Sedition Acts and Schenck v. United States, with the first Red Scare.
- Apply the technique for the Part III B Civic Literacy Essay: describe the historical circumstances of a constitutional or civic issue, explain the efforts to address it, and discuss the extent of success or the impact, using the 6 documents and outside knowledge (NYS Framework, gathering, interpreting and using evidence; civic participation).
An exam-skills answer for the New York US History and Government Regents: how to write the Part III B Civic Literacy Essay, describing the historical circumstances of a constitutional or civic issue, explaining efforts to address it, and discussing the extent of success or the impact, using the 6 documents and outside knowledge.
- Apply the technique for the Part III A constructed-response questions (CRQs): read each of the 6 documents and answer the short scaffold questions (identify, explain, cause and effect, sourcing) using the document, as preparation for the Civic Literacy Essay (NYS Framework, gathering, interpreting and using evidence).
An exam-skills answer for the New York US History and Government Regents: how to answer the Part III A constructed-response (scaffold) questions on the 6 documents, identifying main ideas, explaining cause and effect, and analyzing sourcing, as preparation for the Civic Literacy Essay.
Sources & how we know this
- New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework (Grade 11) — New York State Education Department (2016)
- United States History and Government (Framework) — New York State Education Department (2024)