Test - 3,11,12 American Government :)
categorical grants
Federal aid to states and localities clearly specifying what the money can be used for.
block grants
Federal grants to the states to be used for general activities.
conditional grants
Federal grants with provisions requiring that state and local governments follow certain policies in order to obtain funds.
Why do federal systems tend to be found in nations comprised of regions that are distinctive economically and culturally
Federal systems give these distinctive regions the local authority that is necessary to maintain their identity while allowing them to benefit from the resources of the entire country
concurrent powers (T)
Powers under the Constitution that are shared by the federal government and the states.
At the start of each new Congress, members meet in a __ to select leaders, approve committee assignments, and decide on legislative electives
party conference
Standing committees in Congress are
permanent
interstate compacts
Agreements among states to cooperate on solving mutual problems; require approval by Congress.
What is the minimum number of members of congress needed to support a discharge petition
218
mandate
A formal order from the national government that the states carry out certain policies.
1964 Civil Rights Act
A law that banned discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin in public accommodations such as hotels, restaurants, and conveyances and gave the Attorney General the power to sue local and state governments that maintained racially segregated schools.
Confederation
A loose association of states or territorial units in which very little or no power is lodged in a central government.
confederation
A loose association of states or territorial units in which very little or no power is lodged in a central government.
Which of the following is an argument in favor of a strong national government?
A strong national government ensures consistent standards on key issues affecting the entire country
unitary system
A system in which a central government has complete power over its constituent units or states.
federalism
A system in which significant governmental powers are divided between a central government and smaller territorial units, such as states.
dual federalism
A system of federalism in which state and national powers are neatly divided between the national and state governments. Most powers of the national government are not shared with the states, and most powers of the states are not shared with the national government.
What is federalism?
A system of government under which powers are divided between the central government and smaller unites, such as states or provinces
Responsiveness to ordinary citizens may be greater at the national level than at the state level. One possible reason for this is
Americans are more engaged in national politics and thus more demanding of national officials
nullification
An attempt by states to declare national laws or actions null and void.
necessary and proper clause
Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, also known as the elastic clause; gives Congress the authority to make whatever laws are necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated powers and the responsibilities mentioned in the Constitution's preamble.
Which of the following is an objection to federal mandates often made by the states?
Because some federal mandates are unfunded, the financial burden is transferred to the states
Which type of grand gives money to the states for general purposes (such as secondary education) with few rules attached ?
Block Grants
____ representation reflects the degree to which Congress as a body reflects the demographic composition of the population as a whole
Descriptive
The ___ clause of the constitution gives congress the power to pass laws necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated duties and responsibilities
Elastic clause
preemption
Exclusion of the states from actions that might interfere with federal authority or statutes.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Federal welfare program that provides income and services to poor families via state block grants. The program has benefit time limits and a work requirement.
cooperative federalism
Federalism in which the powers and responsibilities of the states and the national government are intertwined and in which they work together to solve common problems; said to have characterized American government of the 1960s and 1970s.
grants-in-aid
Funds from the national government to state and local governments to help pay for programs created by the national government.
Who has the authority to introduce a bill into the legislative process?
Member of congress
Changes in the economy have contributed to congressional gridlock in which of the following ways?
Labor saving technologies and a decline in the number of manufacturing jobs have threatened the middle class
When compared to the House of Representatives, leadership in the Senate is
Less visible: (the senate in general is a body of independent member only loosely tied to one another)
An advocate of strong state governments might argue that geographic proximity to elected officials
Makes state governments more aware of the needs and desires of average citizens
What is the significance of the McMulloch v. Maryland decision (1819)?
McCulloch V. Maryland affirmed the authority of the national government over the states by saying the the federal government did not have to pay taxes on a national bank
Federalist No. 10
One of a series on essays written by James Madison (others were written by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay), urging the people of New York to support ratification of the Constitution. In No. 10, Madison defended republican government for large states with heterogeneous populations and expressed his fear of majorities and his abhorrence of political parties
reservation clause
Part of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution that says those powers not given to the federal government and not prohibited to the states by the Constitution are reserved for the states and the people.
What are concurrent powers?
Powers held by both the national government and the states
police powers
Powers of a government to protect the health, safety, and general well-being of its people.
What constitutional principle allows the national government to have an impact on state-level civil rights violations under the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Regulation of interstate commerce as a federal power
unfunded mandates
Requirements imposed by the federal government on the states to perform certain actions, with not enough money provided to fulfill the requirements.
While federalism is designed to prevent abuses of power, some political scientists contend that the system has at times allowed for the ease of such abuse. Which of the following is a historical example of this ?
Southern imposition of slavery and discrimination of African Americans without interference from the north
The Constitution originally called for the election of senators by whom
State legislatures
Which of the following is an argument in favor of strong state governments?
Strong state governments allow for policy innovation and experimentation
horizontal federalism
Term used to refer to relationships among the states.
fiscal federalism (T)
That aspect of federalism having to do with federal grants to the states.
What did the supreme court rule in NFIB v Sebelius about the Medicaid expansion in the Affordable Care Act?
That the expansion was unconstitutional because it was a coercive use of Congress spreading power that put states in the unfair of position of implementing the Medicaid expansion or losing all their federal funding.
State regulations can diverge from the policies of other states, sometimes leaving states incidentally affected by the actions of another with little recourse. Which of the following is an example of a divergent regulation that could potentially cause a direct conflict between states that find themselves in such a situation.
Water quality standards
Why would an advocate of dual federalism have opposed the New Deal?
The New Deal reduced the overall power of the State governments in comparison to the national government and its agencies
Civil War Amendments
The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, adopted immediately after the Civil War, each of which represented the imposition of a national claim over that of the states
laboratories of democracy
The ability of states in the U.S. federal system to experiment with policy ideas; the success or failure of state policies can then be a template for national policy action.
Why is lawmaking in the United States more difficult than in parliamentary democracies?
The constitution separates lawmaking power between the House and Senate, each of which has its own institutional rules
The state's rights position contends that the framers of the Constitution intended the states to be coequal with the national government. Which of the following statements do advocates of this position use to support this claim?
The constitution was ratified by the states, not by a vote of the public
devolution
The delegation of authority over government programs from the federal government down to state and/or local governments.
Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The far-reaching health care reform law passed in 2010. The Act was aimed at increasing access to health insurance for all Americans and driving down the rising, burdensome cost of health care in the United States.
Advocates of strong state governments emphasize the geographic proximity citizens have to local politicians. Believers in strong national government contend that this physical closeness is insignificant because
The national government is still more responsive to citizens calls for actions
full faith and credit clause
The provision in Article IV, Section 1, of the Constitution which provides that states must respect the public acts, laws, and judicial rulings of other states.
supremacy clause
The provision in Article VI of the Constitution states that the Constitution and the laws and treaties of the United States are the supreme law of the land, taking precedence over state laws and constitutions when they are in conflict.
due process clause
The section of the Fourteenth Amendment that prohibits states from depriving anyone of life, liberty, or property "without due process of law," a guarantee against arbitrary government action.
equal protection clause
The section of the Fourteenth Amendment that provides for equal treatment by government of people residing within the United States and each of its states.
New Deal (T)
The social and economic programs of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression.
In a confederation, ultimately power rests with
The states
Which of the following helps account for why the power of the national government has increased over time?
The supreme court actively discouraged efforts by the states to expand their own powers
nationalist position
The view of American federalism that holds that the Constitution created a system in which the national government is supreme, relative to the states, and that it granted government a broad range of powers and responsibilities.
states' rights position
The view of American federalism that holds that the Constitution created a system of dual sovereignty in which the national government and the state governments are sovereign in their own spheres.
What is one reason legislative gridlock has become a major problem in the last few years?
There are deep ideological divisions between Republicans and Democrats, driven by constituent preferences
Which of the following statements about the position of the supreme court regarding federalism is accurate?
Under chief justice rehnquist the court was supportive of devolution efforts but has since lessened its support
What do we call a citizen who lives in the district of an elected official?
a constituent
Which of the following people is more likely to support the nationalist position, which calls for a more unified country under a federal government?
a democratic president
Which of the following is an example of preemption
a state passes a law that contradicts an existing national law, and the state law is struck down
What is required to override the presidential veto
a two-thirds vote by both houses of Congress
If you were living under a unitary (or divided) system of government
all power would be concentrated at the national level
James Madison's argument in the Federalist No. 10 reflects which of the following
an embrace of the expanded and diverse United States
American federalism can be seen as a response to the
concerns about the potential abuses by a strong central government
Which of the following could be a Congressional power under the "necessary and proper" clause?
creation of a national bank
A member of congress who tries to mirror perfectly the views of his or her constituency is called an
delegate
Federalism protects liberty by
dividing responsibilities within and among governmental units
Since the ratification of the Constitution , American federalism has gradually changed from
dual to cooperative federalism
When the supreme court ruled that many civil liberties in the Bill of Rights also provided protections against the power of the states, what legal principle was it upholding?
due process
The federal government's methods of financing the interstate highway system and the Great Society are examples of
federal grant money sent to the states to fund national projects
States are expected to accept contractual and financial agreements made in other states, according to which constitutional power or provision?
full faith and credit
an accused murderer cannot escape punishment by entering another state which principle is at stake?
full faith and credit
Redistricting for political gain is often called
gerrymandering
Which is true regarding campaign financing
incumbents tend to have an easier time fundraising
Why is the supremacy clause important to federalism?
it ultimately gives the national government the final say on most issues
when states initiate innovative laws with the potential to serve as models for other states or the federal government, political scientists characterize these states as
laboratories of democracy
One critical aim of block grants, supported by Republicans Nixon and Ford in the 1970's was to (T)
limit restrictions on funding provided by the state governments
Many of the policies enacted by states in the areas of civil rights and the environment are the result of federal
mandates
Senate Seats are ___ than house seats
more visible
Prior to the twentieth century, federal grants to the states were primarily used to
promote internal improvements
States often pass regulatory legislation focused on certain industries which because of federalism, can have unintended consequences. When a large or influential state makes policy change it may
prompt national companies who do business there to reflect those standards throughout the country
The full faith and credit clause
requires states to honor each others official acts
While the program was short lived, general revenue sharing reflected the conservative belief that
states should use federal funding as they deem necessary
By giving members of the House of Representatives two - year terms, the framers of the Constitution were intending
that elected representatives to the house would follow the wishes of their constituents more closely than members of the Senate would
How do federalism reduce the risk of bad public policy and the rejection of the popular will?
the presence of multiple governments at various levels increase the likelihood that progress can be made at one level even if it is stifled for another
Which constitutional amendment states that those powers not given to the federal government and not prohibited are reserved to the states and to the people?
the tenth amendment
Categorical grants from the federal government provided state and local governments with funding for a specific purpose, and there are many requirements that must be met. Block grants give states and local officials the ability to determine for themselves how to spend federal grant money. One other advantage of block grants is
they are easier to administer than categorical grants
Why does the federal government provide grants to states?
to expand national policy influence over state and local activities
What was the purpose of the Affordable Care Act that forced states to expand Medicaid by increasing the income level at which people qualify?
to provide heath insurance to those whose incomes were too high to qualify for Medicaid but not high enough to afford their own health insurance
Which of the following describes the role of the states in a federal system of government?
vital political entities with constitutionally designated powers
The U.S constitution specifically lists
what the national government can do
