Compare and contrast the nature and efficacy [effectiveness] of one US president’s and one Canadian prime minister’s solutions to the Great Depression.

The question requires that candidates give an account of the similarities and differences between the nature and efficacy of solutions offered in response to the Great Depression by one US president and one Canadian prime minister, referring to both throughout. When addressing efficacy, candidates may go beyond the timeframe but the points made must be clearly linked to the issue raised in the question. Candidates may refer to each leader’s economic and political philosophy as well as the actions taken. Issues that might be raised for comparison and contrast include tariffs, the extent of government relief, unemployment efforts, civil works projects, deficit spending and the effectiveness of the leader’s communication with the masses. Candidates may also apply data as to the extent of economic restoration or discuss the role of the Second World War in aiding economic recovery. Both similarities and differences must be clearly indicated but there does not need to be an equal number of each.

The question required candidates to give an account of the similarities and differences between the nature and efficacy of solutions offered in response to the Great Depression by one US president and one Canadian prime minister. This question was not frequently selected but usually addressed FDR and varied equally between Canadians Bennett and King. Knowledge of FDR’s response was often quite thorough but much less so as to either Bennett or King. Often, the responses were descriptive and lacked a running comparison and contrast. ‘Nature’ was addressed much more often than ‘efficacy’.