FEDERALISM (Foundations of Democracy)
Which of the following scenarios would violate the Tenth Amendment?
Congress passing a law raising the minimum driving age to 21
Categorical Grants
Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached; **INCREASES THE POWER OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Which of the following best explains the data on the map?
Federalism creates differences between states on the implementation of health-care policy
Which of the following is a consequence of the allocation of power between the national government and state governments?
Stakeholders and institutions have multiple access points to influence public policy
Before the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution granted women the right to vote nationwide, 13 states allowed women the right to vote in their state elections. This is an example of which of the following aspects of federalism in the United States?
State and local governments can become proving grounds for new ideas
Concurrent powers
Taxation Lawmaking and enforcement Chartering banks Establishing courts Borrowing money
Reserved powers, powers retained by the states, were given Constitutional authority in which amendment?
Tenth
A senator wants to incentivize higher education for students from low-income families and wants to provide clear guidelines on how states must implement those incentives.
A categorical grant
Which of the following is not a reason why the framers wanted a federal system?
A federal system would better suit the desire from the federal government to create unified policymaking across the states
Federalism
A political system in which power is divided and shared between the national government and the states.
Dual federalism
A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies. Separation between the federal and state governments; state and nation operate independently
The following language found in the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, has often been called the elastic clause. How has it impacted government over time? "...To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof." U.S. Constitution, Article I Section 8
Allowed the national government to grow in its power and authority
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the federal government authorized the Justice Assistance Grant in order to provide states and local governments with the funding necessary to support a range of law enforcement and crime prevention programs.
Block grants provide states with a great deal of flexibility in using federal funds to address specific local needs
Federalism has had all of the following natural results EXCEPT
Centralized power
Which of the following principles of government is most relevant to the cartoon?
Checks and Balances
Which of the following describes an exclusive power of the federal government?
Coining money
Federal powers
Coining money Regulating interstate and foreign commerce Regulating the mail Declaring war Raising Armies Conducting foreign affairs
State powers
Conducting elections Establishing local governments Providing for public safety and health Maintaining militia Ratifying Constitutional amendments
The necessary and proper clause is best defined as which of the following?
Congress has the power to carry out its enumerated powers
Which of the following statements accurately describes the majority opinion of the Supreme Court in United States v. Lopez (1995) ?
Congress may not use the commerce clause to make possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime.
What is the difference between enumerated powers and implied powers?
Enumerated powers are powers that the Constitution explicitly grants to the federal government, whereas implied powers are not explicitly written but are necessary for carrying out enumerated powers
Which of the following Supreme Court cases provided the seminal interpretation for the following language found in the U.S. Constitution? "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding." U.S. Constitution, Article 6
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Which of the following cases expanded the powers of Congress by defining the necessary and proper clause more broadly?
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Enumerated powers
Powers given to the national government alone
Concurrent powers
Powers held jointly by the national and state governments.
Federal block grants typically are more desirous over categorial grants because they:
Provide the least foreign interference
McCulloch v. Maryland
Ruled that national laws were supreme to state laws The supremacy clause (prohibited state interference with federal laws) Congress did have the power to create a national bank It was necessary and proper to have a bank implied powers to federal gov.
United States v. Lopez (1995)
Ruled that the Gun-Free School Zones Act was unconstitutional It established limits to federal power under the commerce clause (was not an economic activity)
The commerce clause of the Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. Which of the following might be an implied power that Congress would have to complete this task?
Setting a federal minimum wage
The Supreme Court in the case Hearts of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964) argued: The power of Congress to deal with these obstructions depends on the meaning of the Commerce Clause. Its meaning was first enunciated 140 years ago by the great Chief Justice John Marshall in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) in these words: 'The subject to be regulated is commerce, and . . . to ascertain the extent of the power, it becomes necessary to settle the meaning of the word. The counsel for the appellee would limit it to traffic, to buying and selling, or the interchange of commodities . . . but it is something more: it is intercourse . . . between nations, and parts of nations, in all its branches, and is regulated by prescribing rules for carrying on that [activity].' To what commerce does this power extend? The constitution informs us, to commerce 'with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.' It has, we believe, been universally admitted that these words comprehend every species of commercial [activity]...No sort of trade can be carried on . . . to which this power does not extend. As a result of this Court argument:
The Court expanded the legitimate power of the central government
Which of the following is American federalism most clearly exemplified by?
The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution
The New deal
The name of President Roosevelt's program for getting the United States out of the depression; expansion of the role of the federal government
The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) was a mandate that, in part, required all public buildings to be wheel chair accessible. Mandates like these demonstrate the power of
The national government
Tenth 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.
The use of the necessary and proper clause and the commerce clause has expanded federal power
True
The Gun-Free School Zones Act made it illegal for individuals knowingly to carry a gun in a school zone. The Supreme Court determined this act to be an unconstitutional stretch of the commerce clause in
United States v. Lopez (1995)
All of the following are concurrent powers under the federalist system of the Constitution except the power to:
collect taxes
Federalism as a form of government has many advantages. However, a major disadvantage of federalism is:
conflicts may arise over authority of government to solve various economic and social issues
Block grants
federal grants-in-aid that allow states considerable discretion in how the funds are spent
The congressional power to regulate interstate commerce:
is the power most often challenged in federal courts
The full faith and credit clause refers to the:
requirement that marriages, licenses, and other acts of state courts in one state are honored in all states
Mandates
terms set by the national government that states must meet whether or not they accept federal grants
