AP Gov Unit 1 Module 3 Key Terms

Block Grant

a type of grant that comes with less stringent federal administrative conditions and provides recipients more latitude over how to spend grant funds

Categorical Grant

a federal transfer formulated to limit recipients’ discretion in the use of funds and subject the, to strict administrative criteria

Cooperative Federalism

a style in which both levels of government coordinate their actions to solve national problems, leading to the blending of layers as in a marble cake

Concurrent Powers

shared state and federal powers that range from taxing, borrowing, and making and enforcing laws to establish court systems

Devolution

a process in which powers from the central gov in a unitary system are delegated to subnational units

Dual Federalism

a style of federalism in which the states and national governments exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction, creating a layer-cake view of federalism

Necessary and Proper (Elastic) Clause

the last clause of Article I, Section 8, which enables the national government “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying out all its constitutional responsibilities

Enumerated Power

the specific powers explicitly granted to the federal government–primarily Congress–by the US Constitution

Implied Powers

powers of the federal government that are not explicitly written in the Constitution but are reasonably inferred to carry out its expressed, or enumerated, powers.

Nullification

a doctrine promoted by John Calhoun of South Carolina in the 1830s, asserting that if a state deems a federal law unconstitutional, it can nullify it within its borders

Police Powers

the inherent authority of state governments to pass laws and regulations to protect the public health, safety, welfare, and morals

Reserved Powers

political authorities that the US Constitution neither gives to the national government nor denies to the states, meaning they belong exclusively to the states or the people under the Tenth Amendment

Supremacy Clause

a provision in Article VI of the US Constitution that makes the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties the “supreme Law of the Land”

Federal Mandates

a requirement set by the federal government that state and local governments must follow, regardless of whether federal funding is provided