Chapter 3 Federalism GOVT 2305-37

Formula grants

grants-in-aid in which a formula is used to determine the amount of federal funds a state or local government will receive.

Home rule

power delegated by the state to a local unit of government to manage its own affairs.

Police powers

power reserved to the state government to regulate the health, safety, and morals of its citizens.

Which government has the authority to declare war in the United States?

national

Which of the following types of federal grants is most completely suited to the goal of devolution in New Federalism?

general revenue-sharing grants

A system that distributes power between state and national governments is called

federalism

Commerce clause

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which delegates to Congress the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States and with the Indian tribes"; this clause was interpreted by the Supreme Court in favor of national power over the economy.

Necessary and proper clause

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which provides Congress with the authority to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its expressed powers.

Which of the following cases limited Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce?

United States v. Lopez (1995) The Supreme Court's 1995 ruling in United States v. Lopez struck down a federal law that barred handguns near schools and stated that Congress had exceeded its authority under the commerce clause. This was part of a broader trend in the 1990s toward devolution and renewed interest in the Tenth Amendment.

Regulated federalism

a form of federalism in which Congress imposes legislation on states and localities, requiring them to meet national standards.

Redistribution programs

economic policies designed to control the economy through taxing and spending, with the goal of benefiting the poor.

Preemption

the principle that allows the national government to override state or local actions in certain policy areas; in foreign policy, the willingness to strike first in order to prevent an enemy attack.

States Rights

the principle that the states should oppose the increasing authority of the national government; this principle was most popular in the period before the Civil War.

General revenue sharing

the process by which one unit of government yields a portion of its tax income to another unit of government, according to an established formula; revenue sharing typically involves the national government providing money to state governments.

Dual federalism

the system of government that prevailed in the United States from 1789 to 1937 in which most fundamental governmental powers were shared between the federal and state governments.

What has been the defining characteristic of post-New Deal cooperative federalism?

the use of grants-in-aid to encourage states to pursue nationally defined goals Some have argued that the federalist system in place since the New Deal should be called cooperative federalism because of the greater use of grants-in-aid to encourage states and localities to pursue nationally defined goals.

Which type of grant provides the most control to state and local governments in the distribution of federal grants-in-aid?

Blocks

How did the Great Depression affect the nature of federalism in the United States?

It brought a dramatic increase in the growth and power of the national government over commerce, though for the most part state power was not directly curtailed. States proved largely incapable of dealing with the demands of the Great Depression, which opened the door for greater federal action and Supreme Court approval of that action. The New Deal brought a massive increase in federal programs and power over commerce and welfare, though for the most part it did not directly take powers away from the states.

Why is post-New Deal federalism sometimes referred to as "marble-cake federalism"?

It developed into cooperative federalism, a system in which national grants encouraged states to implement national policies, somewhat blurring the lines between national and state governments.

In what way did the comity clause seek to promote national unity?

It prevented states from discriminating against someone from another state or giving special privileges to their own residents. The comity clause sought to promote national unity by ensuring that citizens enjoying the "privileges and immunities" of one state would be entitled to similar treatment in other states, thus preventing a state from discriminating against someone from another state or giving special privileges to its own residents.

In what specific way did the Obama administration grant more power to the states than had the George W. Bush administration?

It reversed the Bush policy of preemption in certain areas by granting states more control in the areas of social policy and the environment. Although the Obama administration increased federal power in some ways, such as intervention in the economy as a means of combating an economic crisis, it reversed the Bush administration policy of preemption in the areas of social policy and environmental regulation.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of the national government to create a national bank and reaffirmed the notion of national supremacy in which landmark case?

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) The first and most important example of a Supreme Court ruling on the commerce clause in favor of the national government was McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), in the Court ruled that Congress had the power to charter a national bank.

Unitary system

a centralized government system in which lower levels of government have little power independent of the national government.

What is an unfunded mandate?

a federal law that requires the states to do certain things but does not provide state governments with the funding to implement these policies An unfunded mandate is a regulation or new condition for receiving a federal grant that imposes costs on state and local governments for which they are not reimbursed by the federal government. This type of mandate saw an increase in the 1980s, largely due to the actions of the Democratic Congress.

A unitary system is

a government in which the national government holds the ultimate authority. In a unitary system, the central government makes the important decisions; lower levels of government have little power and primarily implement decisions made by the central government.

Devolution

a policy to remove a program from one level of government by delegating it or passing it down to a lower level of government, such as from the national government to the state and local governments.

Federalism

a system of government in which power is divided, by a constitution, between a central government and regional governments.

Cooperative federalism

a type of federalism existing since the New Deal era in which grants-in-aid have been used strategically to encourage states and localities (without commanding them) to pursue nationally defined goals; also known as "intergovernmental cooperation.

New federalism

attempts by presidents Nixon and Reagan to return power to the states through block grants.

Concurrent powers

authority possessed by both state and national governments, such as the power to levy taxes.

Categorical grants

congressional grants given to states and localities on the condition that expenditures be limited to a problem or group specified by law.

Block grants

federal grants-in-aid that allow states considerable discretion in how the funds are spent.

Project grants

grant programs in which state and local governments submit proposals to federal agencies and for which funding is provided on a competitive basis.

Which of the following has been a key characteristic of federalism in the United States since the year 2000?

greater state initiative in the realm of immigration law and policy due to federal inaction The battle between state and federal power has been particularly strong in the realm of immigration law and policy since 2000. immigration. Faced with federal inaction on immigration reform, states and localities have forged new policies that are often quite different from each other.

Which government has the authority to regulate interstate commerce in the United States?

national The Supreme Court case Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) increased national power by granting it to the national government in all matters that would ultimately be called "interstate commerce," though the meaning of this term would continue to be debated for decades.

The national government's implied powers are granted through which one of the following?

necessary and proper clause The necessary and proper clause granted Congress implied powers by enabling it "to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing [expressed] Powers." The Supreme Court did not allow Congress to exercise these powers for several decades after the Founding.

Implied powers

powers derived from the necessary and proper clause of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution; such powers are not specifically expressed, but are implied through the expansive interpretation of delegated powers.

Reserved Powers

powers, derived from the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, that are not specifically delegated to the national government or denied to the states.

grants-in-aid

programs through which Congress provides money to state and local governments on the condition that the funds be employed for purposes defined by the federal government.

Full faith and credit clause

provision from Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution requiring that the states normally honor the public acts and judicial decisions that take place in another state.

Privileges and immunities clause

provision, from Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution, that a state cannot discriminate against someone from another state or give its own residents special privileges.

Unfunded mandates

regulations or conditions for receiving grants that impose costs on state and local governments for which they are not reimbursed by the federal government.

The Full Faith and Credit Clause

requires that each state's laws be honored by the other states. Article IV, Section 1, of the Constitution establishes the Full Faith and Credit Clause, which requires that each state honor the laws ("public acts, records, and judicial proceedings") of all the other states.

Expressed Powers

specific powers granted by the Constitution to Congress (Article I, Section 8) and to the president (Article II).

Expressed powers are

specific powers granted by the U.S. Constitution to the national government. American federalism grants specific powers to the national government (the president and Congress) through the Constitution; these are called expressed powers. The remaining powers are reserved for the states.

Federal preemptions allow Congress to impose national priorities upon states through national legislation, a power that is rooted in the Constitution's

supremacy clause. Preemption, which allows the national government to override state or local actions in certain policy areas, occurs when state and local actions are found to be inconsistent with federal requirements. The Constitution's doctrine of national supremacy makes this possible by stating that in cases of conflict between a national law and a state law, the national law shall prevail.

The Tenth Amendment states that

the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.