Government Vocab Chapter 3

Impilied powers

Definition: The federal governments constitutional authority (through the "necessary and proper" clause) to take action that is not expressly authorized by the Constitution but that supports actions that are so authorized. Sentence: The grant of the necessary and proper clause gave the national government implied powers.

devolution

Definition: The passing down of authority from the national government to the state and local governments Sentence: Devolution, which is reshaping American federalism, is attributed to both practical and political developments.

Reserved Powers

Definition: The powers granted to the states under the tenth amendment to the constitution Sentence: an example of reserved powers are the states right to control intrastate commerce.

cooperative federalism

Definition: The situation in which the national, state, and local levels work together to solve problems Sentence: In cooperative federalism, what effects one level of authority effects all other levels.

Block grants

Definition: federal grants-in-aid that permit stat and local officials to decide how the money will be spent within a general area, such as education or health. Sentence: A block grant targeted for the health area, for example, might give state and local officials leeway in deciding whether to use the money.

categorical grants

Definition: federal grants-in-aid to states and localities that can be used only for designated projects. Sentence: An example of a categorical grant is funds directed fo ruse in school lunch programs.

enumerated (expressed) powers

Definition: the seventeen powers granted to the national government under Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution. Sentence:These powers include taxation and the regulation of commerce as well as the authority to provide for the national defense

Confederacy

Defnition: A governmental system in which sovereignty is vested entirely in subnational (state) governments Sentence: The Articles of Confederation are an example of a confederacy.

Unitary System

Defnition: A governmental system in which the national government alone has sovereign (ultimate) authority Sentence: Under a unitary system, the people are citizens or subjects only of the national government , and the other governments derive their authority from the national government, which can, in theory at least, abolish them or redefine their authority.

Dual federalism

Definition: A doctrine based on the idea that a precise separation of national power and state power is botyh possible and desirable. Sentence:Dual federalism held that certain plicy areas such as interstate commerce and defense belonged exclusively to the national government whereas other polic areas, such as public health belong the states

Federalism

Definition: A governmental system in which authority is divided between two soverein levels of government: national and regional Sentence: The American system of federalism gives states the power to address loval issues in ways of their own choosing, and it gives the national government the power to decide matters of a national scope.

fiscal federalism

Definition: A term that refers to the expenditure of federal funds on programs run in part through states and localities Sentence: The federal government's revenue-raising advantage has helped make money the basis for many of the relations between the national government and the states and localities in fiscal federalism.

Supremacy clause

Definition: Article VI of the Constitution, which makes national law supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits. Sentence:By creating the supremacy clause, the writers of the Constitution recognized that the lawful exercise of national authority would at times conflict with the actions of the states.

grants-in-aid

Definition: Federal cash payments to the states and localitites for programs they administer Sentence: During the last half century, federal grants-in-aid have increased dramatically.

"necessary and proper" clause (elastic clause)

Definition: The authority granted Congress in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper" for the implementation of its enumerated powers. Sentence: An example of the necessary and proper clause is the national governments power to draft people for wars in "necessary"

commerce clause

Definition: The clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 8) that empowers the federal government to regulate commerce among the states and with other nations Sentence: An issue with the commerce clause is that it does not spell out the economic activities included in the grant of power.