Chapter 5.1 Federalism

Federalism

- Authority partly divided and partly shared -Concurrent authority occurs in some areas -Central Government has no unilateral legal authority to alter powers or jurisdiction -States may have reserved powers

What are some characteristics of confederacies?

- Central governments claim authority over governments -Central government cannot punish member states for failing to comply

What current political organizations most resemble confederacies?

- European Union -United Nations

How can a strong national government affect the provision of public goods and services?

- Reduces negative externalities like pollution or infectious diseases across state lines -Identifies and provides nationwide goods without the temptation to free ride

What are some characteristics of the original federal system set up in the U.S Constitution?

- Senators appointed by state legislatures to 6-year terms with no recall. -Representatives and president were accountable to people via popular election.

How can a strong national government affect the preservation of the union?

-Act as basis and guarantor of peace, prosperity, and cooperation -Prevents states from becoming too independent or powerful

Unitary National

-Authority concentrated in central government. -Either no member states, or central government can alter legal powers and jurisdictions at will -No reserved powers for states

Federalism is a mixture of which two extreme forms of political organization?

-Confederacy -Unitary national government

How can a strong state government promote democratic citizenship ?

-Fosters the practice and development of skills, habits, and dispositions essential for democratic self-government -Increases the opportunities to participate in government, allowing more direct impact

How can a strong government affect minority rights?

-More likely to respect and protect minority rights than states

What is it called when states unhealthily compete with one another for business investments by offering lower taxes and socially undesirable regulatory standards?

-Race to the bottom

What are some key arguments for greater national government authority, and less state government authority?

-Reducing compliance costs through standardization and uniformity of rules -Providing national public goods and reducing negative externalities -Protecting minority rights -Preserving the union -Preventing races to the bottom

How can a fully-centralized national government threaten liberty.

-Removes states' check on federal actions and powers =Must have and use capacity to enforce all laws, federal, state, and local

What are the key arguments for greater state government authority, and less national government authority?

-Representing the diversity of local community values and interests -Benefiting from foot voting -Learning from policy experimentation (Laboratories of democracy) -Fostering democratic citizenship -Protecting liberty

1. Federalism 2. Confederacy 3. Unitary national government

1. Authority is partly divided and partly shared between a central government and member state governments, central governments cannot alter legal powers or jurisdictions. 2. States maintain as much autonomy and independence from the central government as possible, central government has authority over governments, not individuals 3. A supreme central government that either is the only government or does not share authority with lower governments, can alter laws and jurisdictions

How can a strong national government affect opportunity and compliance costs?

Creates and provides uniform rules and standards to reduce opportunity and compliance costs.

What does Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution ensure?

Only states have the power of changing their geographic boundaries.

In the U.S., the areas of exclusive state government authority are referred to as the states' ( ) powers

Reserved

What does the term foot voting refer to?

Right to move to another state if the person disagrees with state policies

What does the term laboratories of democracy refer to?

The ability for states to conduct their own policy experiments to learn what works best and what does not work

Which key feature prevents a political organization from being a confederacy?

The central government has authority over individuals

United vs. Disunited governments

United: -Governments relate to each other through political and legal processes -Less prone to violence -Easier to forge fair and mutually beneficial policies Disunited -More difficult to resolve conflicts peacefully -Governments relate to each other through diplomacy and military force -Difficult to forge fair and mutually beneficial policies

How can a strong national government affect races to the bottom?

Upholds higher standards than states facing competition are able to

How do differences in values and interests among different states lead to an argument against uniform national standards and toward state-level or municipal level policy-making?

When values and interests are different across states, it is difficult if not impossible for uniform laws and standards to adequately reflect that diversity. In those situations, it can be better for laws and policies to be made at the most local level possible.