Federalism Lecture Notes

Flashcards on Federalism

Federalism

A system in which the national government shares power with lower levels of government.

Unitary system

A system dominated by the central or national government, in which lower levels of government have little power.

Expressed Powers

Article 1, Section 8 (17 powers) of the Constitution.

Implied Powers

End of Article 1, Section 8, which grants Congress the right “to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper” to execute its expressed powers.

Supremacy Clause

In Article VI, the Constitution states that the laws of Congress shall be “the supreme Law of the Land.”

Reserved powers

Powers that are not specifically delegated to the national government or denied to the states; found in the 10th Amendment.

Police powers, related to state authority

Ability to develop and enforce criminal codes, administer health and safety rules, and regulate marriage and divorce laws.

Concurrent powers

The powers that state and federal government share such as regulating commerce, affect currency, and levy taxes.

Full faith and credit clause (Art. IV, Sec. 1)

Requires states to give “full faith and credit” to each other’s “public acts, records, and judicial proceedings.

Privileges and immunities clause (Art IV, Sec. 2)

All citizens from outside a given state enjoy the “privileges and immunities” granted to all citizens of that state.

Compact Clause

Art. 1, Sec. 19 that states “No State shall, without Consent of Congress… enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State.”

Home rule

A guarantee of noninterference in various areas of local affairs.

Dual federalism

(1789-1937), a constitutional interpretation that gave the federal government exclusive control over some issues and states exclusive control over others.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

U.S. congress through implied power had the legal right to charter a national bank.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

National government’s supremacy in all matters affecting “interstate commerce.”

Categorical grants

Congressional grants given to states and localities for a specific problem.

Project grants

Competitive grants; programs where state and local governments can submit proposals.

Formula grants

Grants in aid in which a formula is utilized to determine funding amount.

States’ rights

Principle that a state does not have to submit to national laws where it contends the national government exceeded its authority.

Cooperative federalism

Various levels of government work together to solve policy problems, often with the federal government providing some portion of funding.

State Inability

States cannot undertake certain policy change because of wide economic disparities.

State Inflexibility

States refuse to do something because supremacy clause binds states to national government standards.

State diversity

Some policies do not work on a state by state basis due to defense, war, drinking age, or environmental issues.

Fiscal federalism

The relationship centered on how much money, who decides how to spend, what conditions are there on it?

Unfunded mandates

Congress has dramatically increased the use of rules forcing states to spend their own money to comply with federal law.