American Politics Notes 9/2/26

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, constitutional clauses, and landmark Supreme Court cases regarding federalism and the scope of congressional power.

Federalism

A political system defined at its deepest, most basic level as shared, split, or divided sovereignty between national and state governments.

Unitary System

A political system where the central government holds ultimate sovereignty and divides or shares power only on terms it dictates.

Enumerated Powers

Powers explicitly listed in the Constitution; by definition, all federal powers must be enumerated powers.

Police Powers

A state's broad, undifferentiated authority to enact laws for the health, safety, welfare, or morals of its people, a power the federal government does not possess.

Wickard v. Filburn

A Supreme Court case ruling that federal limits on a farmer's home-grown wheat were constitutional under the Commerce Clause because personal consumption in the aggregate affects interstate commerce.

Court Packing Plan

A 1930s proposal by New Deal Democrats to expand the Supreme Court from 9 to 15 justices to overcome judicial opposition to New Deal legislation.

Guarantee Clause

A clause in Article IV of the U.S. Constitution providing that the federal government must guarantee every state a republican form of government.

Article VI

The constitutional article containing the Supremacy Clause, validation of prior debts, and the ban on religious tests for holding public office.

Thirteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude (except as punishment for a crime) and granted Congress explicit authority to enforce it through legislation.

Gonzales v. Raich

A Supreme Court case upholding federal authority to prohibit locally grown medical marijuana under the Commerce Clause based on the aggregate effect rationale.

Nixon v. United States

A Supreme Court decision holding that challenges to Senate procedures in impeachment trials present a non-justiciable political question.

McCulloch v. Maryland

A landmark Marshall Court case establishing that Congress has implied power under the Necessary and Proper Clause to charter a national bank and that states cannot tax federal operations.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Also called the Elastic Clause, a constitutional clause that expands existing enumerated powers to allow Congress to enact laws giving those powers full effect.

Hamiltonian Interpretation of "Necessary"

The view adopted by John Marshall in McCulloch v. Maryland that "necessary" means "useful and convenient" to execute enumerated powers, rather than strictly essential.