Chapter 3: Federalism

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

What is the significance of the 10th amendment?

It's a constitutional truism, a mere assertion that state's have independent powers of their own.

10th Amendment

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.

What is the difference between block grants and revenue sharing?

Block grants: federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services. Revenue sharing: Washington foots part of the bill, but states or cities that want to get their share must pay part of their program's costs

Intergovernmental Relations

The workings of the federal system- the entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments.

McCulloch v. Maryland

- An important decision of the Supreme Court in 1819 that established the key concepts of implied powers, broad construction of the Constitution, and supremacy of the national government

Define three ways of organizing a government.

1. Federal-A way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people. It is a system of shared power between units of government. 2. Unitary-A way of organizing a nation so that all power resides in the central government. 3. Confederation-The national government is weak, and all or most of the power is in the hands of its components.

List four advantages of federalism for democracy.

1. Increases access to the government 2. Different economic interests are concentrated in different states influencing pluralism 3. Diversity of opinion 4. Losing an election is more acceptable

Explain the three general standard operating procedures of cooperative federalism.

1. Shared costs-Washington pays part of the bill for programs 2. Federal Guidelines- Most federal grants to states and cities come with strings attached. 3. Shared administration-State and local officials implement federal policies, but they have administrative powers of their own.

List the three items that are considered the Supreme Law of the Land and thus make up issues based on a federal question.

1. Treaties 2. National Laws 3. Constitution

Describe the 2 types of categorical grants.

1.Project grants: based on merit; awarded on basis of competitive bidding 2.Formula grant: "if it fits the formula, you get money."

List four disadvantages of federalism for democracy.

1.States can have different amounts of resources making spending unfair, 2. Unfunded mandates often used, 3.Cross-Cutting Requirements 4. Cross-Over Sanctions.

Explain two examples of the shift from dual to cooperative federalism.

1.Supreme Court's Gibbons v. Ogden decision, which ruled in 1824 that Congress's right to regulate commerce under the Commerce Clause could be "exercised to its utmost extent, and acknowledges no limitations, other than those prescribed in the constitution..." 2. The great Depression and the New Deal that followed it shifted the U.S. Government away from dual federalism.

Extradition

A legal process whereby an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one state to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.

New Federalism

A policy in 1969, that turned over powers and responsibilities of some U.S. federal programs to state and local governments and reduced the role of national government in domestic affairs (states are closer to the people and problems)

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Unitary Governments

A way of organizing a nation so that all power resides in the central government. Most national government today are these.

Elastic Clause

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which allows Congress to make all laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out the powers of the Constitution.

Supremacy Clause

Article VI of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.

Reserve Powers

As defined in the Tenth Amendment, powers that are not given to the national government by the constitution, or not prohibited to the states, are reserved by the states or the people.

Block Grants

Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services

Categorical Grants

Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions. Compare to block grants.

Cooperative Federalism

System of federalism where federal & state governments help each other perform governmental duties. Also known as marble-cake federalism. E.g., After hurricanes federal and state agencies work together to provide relief. Can cause confusion and/or conflict among among different levels of government. Best explanation of how federalism works today (instead of dual federalism)

Describe the significance of Reagan to the balance of federal power.

Reagan reduced the size of the federal government and began to turn the marble cake cooperative government back into the layered cake of dual federalism that it once was. This is part of the idea behind New Federalism and the Devolution Revolution.

Mandates (and unfunded)

Requirements that are imposed by the national government on the state and local governments for programs such as Americans with Disabilities Act which requires all building to accommodate the disabled. Many of these are unfunded and must be paid for by local governments.

Commerce Clause

The clause in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.

For what reasons might a state or locality not want to receive financial aid?

They have potentially expensive requirements that come with receiving aid

Formula Grants

a type of categorical grant where states and local governments do not apply for a grant but are given funds on the basis of a formula.

Privileges and Immunities

citizens of each state must recieve privileges and immunities of any other state in which they are in-prohibits states from discriminating against citizens of other states (some exceptions) Art 4 sect 2

How did industrialization increase the role of the national government?

they have to restrain the large companies from creating monopolies and to encourage open competition

Why don't the states handle more issues?

A Constitutionally permissible, but not sensible for the states to handle a wide range of other issues. Problem or policy requires the authority and resources of the national government.

What is the difference between categorical grants and block grants?

A categorical grant is when money is given by Congress for a specific purpose. A block grant is money given to a state for a broad category like secondary education or health services. The difference being that the categorical grant must be used for the exact thing which it is being given and the block grant is less restrictive on what its uses must be.

Full faith and credit

Constitution's requirement that each state accept the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state

What is meant by "cross-over sanctions" and "cross-cutting requirements"? Give examples.

Cross-over Sanctions: When money for one program is used as an incentive for another. For example, a 1984 act reduced federal highway aid by up to 15 percent for any state that failed to adopt a minimum drinking age of 21. Cross-cutting Requirements: Federal government says that states or cities must do everything they say to get funding. If only one requirement is not met, they don't get any money at all.The first and most famous of these is Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which holds that in the use of federal funds, no person may be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

Dual Federalism

Fed. &state govts each ahve defined responsibilities w/n their own sphere of influence; "layer cake" federalism

In what ways does a federal system decentralize government?

Division of power among local and state authorities puts the power closer to the people.

Explain the differences between enumerated and implied powers. Give examples. Where are they found in the U.S. Constitution?

Enumerated powers are explicitly stated while implied powers are extensions of the abilities of institutions not directly prohibited. Some examples are the interstate commerce clause and the elastic clause, both found in Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.

Describe three obligations the states have to one another under the constitution. Give examples.

Full faith and credit-Gay Marriage Extradition- Privileges and Immunities-Saenz v. Roe

How is dual federalism like a layer cake, and how is cooperative federalism comparable to a marble cake?.

In dual federalism, the powers and policy assignments are distinct whereas in cooperative federalism, there is mingled responsibilities and blurred distinctions between the levels of government.

Implied powers

Not expressed, but may be considerered through the use of the Necessary and Proper (elastic) Clause Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions.

Concurrent Powers

Powers held jointly by the national and state governments.

Enumerated powers

Powers specifically given to Congress in the Constitution; including the power to collect taxes, coin money, regulate foreign and interstate commerce, and declare war.

Gibbons v. Ogden

This case involved New York trying to grant a monopoly on waterborne trade between New York and New Jersey. Judge Marshal, of the Supreme Court, sternly reminded the state of New York that the Constitution gives Congress alone the control of interstate commerce. Marshal's decision, in 1824, was a major blow on states' rights.

Fiscal Federalism

Through different grant programs, slices up the marble cake into many different pieces, making it even more difficult to differentiate the functions of the levels of government.