Dec 18, 2009

Breathing Lessons | Historical Context

Political Apathy
Poor economic conditions at the end of the 1970s led to a change in the political landscape of America. In 1980 Ronald Reagan won the presidential election with only 51.6 percent of the popular vote. His "landslide victory" resulted from a turnout of only fifty-four percent of the voting-age population. In other words, only twenty-seven percent of all eligible voters elected Reagan to office. Many commentators expressed disappointment over voter apathy and the lack of democratic participation.

The Decade of Greed and the Working Class
In...