Gov

Elastic Clause

Final paragraph of article 1, section 8, of the constitution which authorizes congress to pass all laws necessary and proper to carry out the enumerated powers

Enumerated Powers

Powers of the federal government they are listed explicitly in the constitution

Implied Powers

Powers of the federal government that go beyond those enumerated in the constitution

McCulloch v Maryland

An 1819 Supreme Court decision that established the Supremacy of the national government over the state government

Unitary Government

A Central government that holds supreme power in a nation.

Full Faith and Credit

A clause in Article IV of the constitution requiring each state to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of all other states.

Extradition

A legal process whereby a state surrenders a person charged with a crime to the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.

Gibbons V Ogden

A landmark case decided in 1824 in which the supreme court interpreted very broadly the clause in Article 1, Section 8

Privledges and Immunities

The Provision of the constitution according citizens of each state the privledges of citizens of any state in which they happen to be.

Tenth Amendment

The Constitutional Amendment stating,” 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.”

Supremacy Clause

The clause in Article VI of the constitution that makes the constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws as long as the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.

Intergovernmental Relations

The entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments including regulations, transfers of funds, and the sharing of information that constitute the workings of the federal system.

Formula Grants

Federal Categorical grants distributed according to a formula specified in legislation or in administrative regulations.

Block Grants

Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services.

Project Grants

Federal categorical grants given for specified purposes and awardees on the basis of merits of applications.

Categorical Grants

Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or categories, of state and local spending.

Fiscal Federalism

The pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system; it is the cornerstone of the national governments relations with state and local governments.

Devolution

Transferring Responsibility for policies from the federal government to state and local governments

Cooperative federalism

A system of government in which states and the national government share powers and policy assignments.

Dual Federalism

A system of government in which the states and the national government each remain supreme within their own spheres, each with different powers and policy responsibilities.

Federalism

A way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government share formal authority over the same area and people.