I don't know your options, but something that is true about the Berlin Conference of 1884 is that it is believed to have started the Scramble for Africa - that is, the division of Africa between the European powers without taking into account the Africans.
So what is NOT true is that the African (leaders) were involved in any way, but what is true is that their continent was decided upon without their participation.
The correct answer is:
- Both crime and poverty rates had greatly increased. With the reduction of social welfare programs advocated by the Neoliberal policies, budgets for the police and for government programs used to mitigate and remedy poverty were greatly decreased. This in turn meant that the police and the social programs had to do a lot more with a lot less resources which inevitable entailed a degradation of their services.
- Budget deficits in the federal government were rising. Indeed, one of the major tenets of neoliberalism is that taxation is a hindrance for the activities and prosperity of the private sector and the rich. This translated into tax cuts for the wealthiest that reduced the income of the federal government and that increased deficits.
- The federal government's role had become very limited. Neoliberals consider that big government is the problem. That is why they always de-fund it as much as they can and enact laws to keep the government from regulating all types of economic activities.
- Divorce rates and drug abuse were becoming major problems. Inevitably, as economic inequalities rise, the quality of life and access to economic and professional opportunities decreases and that puts quit a strain on households that have to cope with extreme unemployment and inflation but with stagnant wages/salaries. Inevitably, such social and economic instability takes a great toll on people and the fact that due to budget cuts to social security and lack of access to universal, comprehensive healthcare prevents them from getting medical/psychological assistance; they will resort to drug abuse in order to mitigate their physical/psychological ailments.
No, this is why the check and balances were put in place.
