texas government chapter 3

Federalism

A system of government in which power is divided between a central government and regional governments

Pros of federalism

Limits the power of both federal and state governments by having them exist in tension with one another, local governments are often better equipped with information and understanding of local issues to help citizens, and it allows states to function as “laboratories of democracy” with limited impact on other states

Cons of federalism

It is difficult for the national government to act quickly and deliberately, it increases partisan polarization (divergence of political attitudes from the center) and widens economic inequalities due to the various policy priorities and outcomes across the states, some policies function better as uniform national policies to deliver greater positive results

What did the constitution give states, and what impact did it have on the national government

The primary and autonomous roles in governance, which left the national government impotent and ineffective and unable to craft or enforce national policy or negotiate and deliver on foreign policy

Why did the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia decide to meet

To remedy the issues in the Articles of Confederation in the form of a new national government that would have the power to craft and enforce policy while also protecting a significant role for states in the governing process

What were the solutions to regional and economic interest of the delegates in the AOC

Protections for private property, the protection of the institution of enslavement, and a method of representation that favored enslaving states over non-enslaving states in congress and the electoral college

The tenth amendment

Added in 1791 to alleviate concerns that the federal government had too much power, aka the States’ Rights Amendments

Necessary and proper clause (elastic clause)

Provides support for the viability of implied national power that, when exercised by national officials, often comes in conflict with state powers and priorities guaranteed by the tenth amendment

Full faith and credit clause

Each state must recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceeding of every other state

What is the public policy exception to the full faith and credit clause

The concept that states do not have to give full faith and credit to the actions of other states where those actions violate a states public policy

Nullification

The assertion by South Carolina that a strong national government was a threat to sovereignty; they attempted to “nullify” or “veto” national legislation contrary to the states interests

What is McCullough vs Maryland and when did it happen

1819 and it upheld the supremacy of the national government in disputes between it and the states

What is gibbons vs odgen and when did it happen

1824 and it broadly defined congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce as delegated to in the constitution, making it one of the most important regulatory powers of congress

During what case and what era did challenges to the legality of secession culminate

Texas vs white and during Reconstructino

What is reconstruction

The period after the civil war when much of the south was under military occupation

13th amendment

Ended legal enslavement or involuntary servitude

14th amendment

Defines American citizenship and protects persons from state action denying them due process or the equal protection of the laws

15th amendment

Protects voting rights for black males

What was the first case in which the Supreme Court allowed the protections of the bill of rights to states and when did it occur

Gitlow vs New York and 1925

Sweatt vs painter And what case it laid the groundwork for

In 1950, Herman sweatt challenged the “separate but equal” doctrine of plessy vs Ferguson. This case struck down segregation policies at the UT law school and laid the groundwork for the broader decision in brown vs board of education four years later

Layer cake federalism

The levels of government are largely separate. The layer representing the national governments powers and responsibilities is smaller than the one repressing the powers of state governments

Marble cake federalism

A description of federalism in which the boundaries between national and state governments are blurred

Dual federalism

The period between 1789 and 1937 in which the responsibilities of the national and state government were clearly separated

During the period of dual federalism, which government was the regulation of the economy and individual behavior left to and what did it mean

The states and this meant that state government regulation of oil production and the creation and enforcement of the Jim Crow segregation laws

Dual sovereignty

The principle that both states and national government have the power to pass laws, and in the case of overlapping laws, both state and national governments can enforce their laws

Police power

The power of states to pass laws to promote health, safely, elections, social behavior, and public well being

Cooperative federalism

A type of federalism in which national and state governments work together to provide services, often through grants in aid used to encourage states and localities to pursue national defined goals

Categorical grants

Congressional appropriated grants that were connected to population groups or competitive processes, which consisted of specific federal conditions and priorities that limited expenditures of federal funds given to states to a particular problem or group

What did FDR use categorical grants for

To fight the Great Depression and the dust bowl

New federalism

Attempts by president nixon and Reagan to shift power to the states through block grants

Block grants

Federal grants that allow states considerable discretion on how funds are spent

Coercive federalism

The most recent iteration of federalism in which federal regulations are used to force states to change their policies to meet national goals through unfunded mandates and preemption

Unfunded mandates

Federal requirements that the state of local governments pay the costs of federal policies

Preemption

Prevents states from acting in areas that the constitution exclusively reserves to the national government

What do both democrat and republican administrations regularly use to try to get state, local, and private institutions to carry out the administrations priorities

Preemption and financial incentives

Fractious federalism: federal-state relations under party polarization

A form of federalism in which partisan identity influences corporation of state officials with national policy

Fractious federalism: federal-state relations under party polarization emerged as a response to what

To the growing partisan polarization that characterizes contemporary politics

3 major characters of fractious federalism

Intense opposition to a federal policy or law that is rooted inn state policymakers partisan, ideological identities; active efforts of these state partisans to repeal or weaken the law, either through court action or intergovernmental lobbying; and reluctance by state policy makers to implement the federal policy or law, growing nationalization of state and local policy debates, and state and local elections

Independent state grounds

Where states expand rights beyond the provision of the constitution

What does the voting rights act define

Jurisdictions covered by the act and limiting the actions of certain jurisdictions

Preclearance

The requirement under the VRA that the us department of justice or a dc federal court had to approve any voting changes from states covered by the provision

Why is preclearance no longer required

The decision in Shelby county, Alabama versus holder which determined preclearance violated the tenth amendment

What was the ruling of brnovich vs democratic national committee

That restrictions on voting do not violate the VRA still allow editions to be equally open

What are two important points in the decision about federalism

All states enjoy sovereignty and states have broad powers to regulate elections under the tenth amendment

What was the aca or Obamacare

A highly partisan piece of legislation that had large implications of federalism. It imposed a tax on individual citizens, which mandated individuals purchase health insurance, and sought to expand Medicaid at the state level, using categorical grants