Chapter 3: Federalism Terminology

Vocabulary flashcards based on the Chapter 3 Federalism Terminology Study Sheet.

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national government and state/subnational governments.

Unitary system

A system in which the national government holds primary authority and lower governments receive powers from the national government.

Vertical federalism

The relationship between different levels of government, especially the federal government and states.

Horizontal federalism

The relationship between governments at the same level, especially state-to-state relationships.

Dual federalism

A system in which the federal and state governments have separate spheres of authority.

Shared federalism

A system in which federal and state governments share responsibility and authority over policy areas.

Devolution

The transfer of power and responsibility from a higher level of government to a lower level, especially federal to state.

Supremacy Clause

The constitutional principle that federal law takes precedence over conflicting state law.

Commerce Clause

Gives Congress the power to regulate commerce among the states.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Gives Congress the power to make laws necessary and appropriate for carrying out its constitutional powers.

Tenth Amendment

Reserves powers not given to the federal government by the Constitution to the states or the people.

Seventeenth Amendment

Changed the selection of U.S. senators from being chosen by state legislatures to being directly elected by voters.

Tribal sovereignty

The principle that Native American tribes possess a degree of self-government and legal authority over their communities and lands.

Nullification

The idea that a state can declare a federal law invalid and refuse to enforce it within the state.

Missouri Compromise

An 1820 agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while establishing a geographic boundary related to slavery.

Fourteenth Amendment

Amendment that expanded federal authority to protect individual rights within the states, including equal protection under the law.

Civil War Amendments

The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which abolished slavery, established citizenship/equal protection, and protected voting rights for Black men, respectively.

New Deal

Franklin D. Roosevelt's programs during the Great Depression that significantly expanded the role of the federal government.

Neoliberalism

An approach emphasizing free markets, reduced government intervention, and greater reliance on market forces.

Prisoner's dilemma

A situation in which governments acting in their own self-interest can produce a worse outcome for everyone, especially when they cannot trust each other to cooperate.

Race to the bottom

A situation in which states lower regulations or standards to remain economically competitive with other states.

Laboratories of democracy

The idea that states can experiment with different policies, allowing successful policies to potentially spread to other states.

Negative externality

A cost or harm created by one government's actions that affects people outside that government's jurisdiction.

Fiscal federalism

The use of federal funding and financial incentives to influence state and local government policies.

Grant

Money provided by one level of government to another level of government to fund a particular program or purpose.

Block grant

A federal grant providing a set amount of money for a broad policy area while giving the recipient government relatively more discretion over how to use it.

Matching grant

A grant in which the federal government matches money spent by a state or local government on a program.

Federal immigration authority

The principle that the federal government has primary authority over national immigration policy.

Sanctuary city

A city that chooses not to assist federal immigration authorities in certain immigration-enforcement activities.

Attrition through enforcement

A strategy intended to make conditions difficult enough for undocumented immigrants that they leave an area voluntarily.

Decentralized response

A response in which different levels of government make their own decisions rather than following one centralized national policy.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and denied citizenship to Black Americans.

Brown v. Board of Education

Declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Loving v. Virginia

Declared laws banning interracial marriage unconstitutional.

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education

Allowed busing as a means of achieving racial integration in schools.

Arizona v. United States

Reinforced federal supremacy in immigration policy and struck down parts of Arizona's immigration law.