POLI 103 Quiz #3

The goal of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was to

limit the costs associated with unfunded mandates by ensuring that Congress knows how much it is expecting of state and local governments and the private sector.

The purpose of the Tenth Amendment is to

limit the powers of the federal government by reserving certain powers to the states and to the people.

The inclusion of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution was MOST strongly supported by the

Antifederalists.

The power of Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with Native American tribes is found in ________ of the U.S. Constitution.

Article I

Which clause is the source of implied powers under the U.S. Constitution?

necessary and proper

"Marble cake federalism" is associated with the

pattern of intergovernmental cooperation that has blurred the lines between the states and the national governments.

An example of ________ is when federal officials force state officials to implement more stringent national water pollution regulations.

preemption

The principle of ________ gives the federal government the power to override any state or local law in one particular area of policy.

preemption

When Alaska passed a law in the 1970s that gave state residents preference over nonresidents in obtaining work on oil pipelines, this law violated the ________ clause.

privileges and immunities

Which constitutional provision was MOST important in determining the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)?

Fourteenth Amendment

The Internet Tax Freedom Act

prohibits states and localities from taxing internet access services.

What is one of the biggest problems with federal block grants?

There is a need for greater accountability in how the funds are actually spent by the states.

During the era of dual federalism, the primary goal of the federal government's domestic policies was to

promote the development of commercial activity between and among the states.

The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution ensured that slavery would be

protected by obligating free states to return runaway slaves to the state from which they escaped.

Economic policies that attempt to benefit the poor through taxing and spending are referred to as

redistributive programs.

The best example of a concurrent power under the U.S. Constitution is the power to

regulate commercial activity.

An example of ________ federalism is when federal officials establish environmental standards that every state must follow.

regulated

If passed, the Marketplace Fairness Act would have

required online retailers to collect state sales taxes.

Which of the following statements best describes state-level same-sex marriage laws prior to 2015?

Thirteen states had passed laws prohibiting same-sex couples from being legally married.

The Secure Communities program

required state and local authorities to check the fingerprints of people being booked into jail against a Homeland Security database

Attempts by Congress to regulate child labor and factory conditions in local workplaces were struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in the late nineteenth century because regulating local workplaces was

beyond the scope of interstate commerce at the time and was therefore perceived to be an unconstitutional exercise of power by the federal government.

The form of federal assistance called ________ provides money to state governments with no strings attached.

block grants

A federal grant to states specifically to assist in the building of new public schools is an example of a ________ grant.

categorical

Which of the following economic policies did the national government implement during the early nineteenth century?

chartering a national bank

The privileges and immunities clause of Article IV is also referred to as the ________ clause.

comity

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) was important because it

established the supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce.

The specific powers granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution are called the ________ powers.

expressed

The United States, Canada, and Switzerland are all ________ systems of government, while France is a ________ system of government.

federal; unitary

The fact that state governments are required to enforce restraining orders placed on stalkers and batterers in other states is a result of the

full faith and credit clause of the Constitution.

The ________ and the ________ clauses of the U.S. Constitution involve the relationships between and among the various states.

full faith and credit; privileges and immunities

Block grants are designed to

give the states considerable discretion in how money from the federal government should be spent.

What is it called when a state grants a city the ability to govern its own local affairs?

home rule

Federalism is best defined as a system of government

in which power is divided between a national government and lower-level governments.

The so-called individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act refers to the requirement that

individuals purchase health care insurance coverage or pay a penalty to the federal government.

The Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) was significant because it

required that all states offer marriage licenses to two people of the same sex.

In the 1990s, the Supreme Court's "federalism revolution" helped to

return more power to the states.

A major reason that the slogan "states' rights" became tarnished in the 1950s and 1960s was that it had been used by

southern opponents of the civil rights movement to support laws favoring racial inequality.

The Supreme Court's decision in Printz v. United States was important because it declared that

state and local officials could not be required to administer a federal regulatory program.

Which level of government writes the majority of criminal laws?

state governments

In a decision on the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court ruled that

state governments could decline to expand Medicaid coverage without losing their existing Medicaid funds from the federal government.

Under the traditional system of American federalism, most of the fundamental governing in the United States was done by

state governments.

The full faith and credit clause of the Constitution requires the

states to honor each other's public acts and legal decisions.

The doctrine of nullification asserted that

states were not bound by federal laws that they considered unconstitutional.

The ________ clause in the U.S. Constitution affirms that national laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land.

supremacy

A provision of which law was overturned in the Supreme Court case Printz v. United States?

the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

Which event was MOST influential in triggering the rise of a more active national government?

the Great Depression

The first nation to adopt federalism as its governing framework was

the United States.

Which of the following has been an important contractual topic between states?

the distribution of river water

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act was MOST closely related to which of the following constitutional clauses?

the full faith and credit clause

The Southern Manifesto

was written by southern officials who declared that their states were not bound by Supreme Court decisions outlawing racial segregation.

The era of dual federalism was from the ________ until ________.

Founding; the New Deal

Currently, how many states allow guns to be carried on college campuses?

10

In ________, the Supreme Court reinterpreted the commerce clause, changing it from a check on national power to a source of national power.

1937

Almost 40 percent of all federal criminal statutes passed after the Civil War were enacted between

1970 and 1998.

How many states prohibited interracial marriage in 1952?

30

How many states have legal or constitutional provisions requiring that their proposed budgets are balanced?

49

Congressional grants paid for ________ percent of the development of an interstate highway system after World War II.

90

Which statement best describes American federalism since the 1930s?

Although the federal government has grown significantly more powerful since the 1930s, the basic framework of American federalism has not been altered and state governments remain important.

________ compels state governments to obey costly federal regulations but does not reimburse those costs.

An unfunded mandate

________ powers exist when both the state and national governments share authority in certain domains.

Concurrent

________ is evidenced when national officials fund a project that is actually implemented by state governments.

Cooperative federalism

Which of the following executive orders on immigration led to a deadlocked decision in the Supreme Court and was never implemented?

Deferred Action for Parents of Americans

Unfunded mandates were primarily the result of tension between a

Democratic Congress that wanted to achieve liberal social objectives and Republican presidents who opposed increased social spending.

Which statement about the legality of marijuana is MOST accurate?

Despite remaining illegal under federal law, more than half of the states have legalized medical marijuana and a handful have legalized recreational marijuana.

________ is the strategy of delegating authority to a lower level of government.

Devolution

Which approach did Congress use in 1973 to compel states to adopt a maximum speed limit of 55 miles per hour?

It passed legislation to withhold federal highway funds from states that did not adopt the new speed limit.

Who wrote the Supreme Court opinions in both McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)?

John Marshall

Which of the following statements about the relationship between state and local governments is NOT accurate?

Local governments can legally dissolve the government of the state in which they reside if every local government votes to do so.

State laws banning interracial marriage were successfully challenged in which Supreme Court case?

Loving v. Virginia

Which state's health care law became the template for the 2010 Affordable Care Act?

Massachusetts

The Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could NOT impose "all or nothing" funding conditions on the states in

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.

Using block grants to return power to the states was part of ________ during the Nixon (1969-1974) and Reagan (1981-1989) administrations.

New Federalism

The Constitution stipulates which of the following about relationships between states?

No state shall enter into a compact or agreement with another state without the approval of Congress.

Which state's "right to die" law was challenged before the Supreme Court in 2006?

Oregon

Who was the first president to promote New Federalism?

Richard Nixon

Which of the following statements about unfunded mandates is MOST accurate?

Since 1996, fewer than 5 percent of public laws have included private-sector mandates with costs exceeding the threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

Why do many political scientists and economists believe that states and localities should NOT be in charge of redistributive programs?

State and local governments must compete with each other and therefore do not have an incentive to spend money on the needy people in their areas.

Which of the following statements about private property is MOST accurate?

State governments define private property by enacting laws that define who is and is not entitled to use a piece of property.

Which amendment preserves a strong role for the states in the American federal republic?

Tenth

Advocates of limiting the powers of the national government justify their position by pointing to the ________ of the U.S. Constitution.

Tenth Amendment

The Supreme Court used which constitutional amendment as the basis for striking down the 1875 Civil Rights Act?

Tenth Amendment

What was the overall importance of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

The Court allowed Congress to use the necessary and proper clause to broadly interpret its delegated powers.

Which statement best describes the Supreme Court's decisions about federalism during the 1990s?

The Court limited the power of the national government over the state governments.

Which statement about physician-assisted suicide is MOST accurate?

The Supreme Court has ruled that states can legalize physician-assisted suicide.

Which of the following statements best describes the 2005 Supreme Court's ruling on medicinal marijuana?

The federal government has the power to regulate use of medicinal marijuana under the commerce clause.

Which of the following is the best example of a unitary system of government?

The federal government sets detailed educational guidelines that all local governments must implement.

Which Supreme Court decision partially struck down the Defense of Marriage Act?

United States v. Windsor

State governments are often called the "laboratories of democracy" because they

allow governments to experiment with many different approaches in order to find the policies that best meet the needs of their citizens.

The Supreme Court justices determined that the individual mandate found in the Affordable Care Act was

constitutional under Congress's power to tax.

The structure of American federalism

contributed to the longevity of the U.S. government by allowing many divisive policy decisions throughout American history to be made by states.

The fact that 43 states have followed in Minnesota's footsteps and allowed charter schools is an example of

diffusion.

Nations that adopt a federal arrangement are MOST likely to have

diverse ethnic or language groups.

The Supreme Court's decision in King v. Burwell (2015) was significant because it

ensured that federal subsidies to help pay for health insurance would be available to residents in all states.

The term Dreamers usually refers to

undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

If the federal government passed a law that did not provide money to state and local governments but required them to construct wheelchair lifts at all train stations, it would be an example of a(n)

unfunded mandate.

In Printz v. United States, the Supreme Court struck down a law that required state and local law enforcement officials to conduct background checks on handgun purchasers because the law

violated the Tenth Amendment's guarantee of state sovereignty.