American Government: Principles of Federalism

Vocabulary flashcards covering core constitutional provisions, court rulings, federalism models, and intergovernmental fiscal tools based on the lecture.

Full Faith and Credit

The constitutional principle under Article IV requiring that the official acts, public records, and judicial proceedings of one state (such as driver's licenses, diplomas, or marriage certificates) must be respected and recognized by other states.

Defense of Marriage Act

A 1990s federal law passed by Congress that deferred marriage definitions to the states, allowing them to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages performed in states like Hawaii or Massachusetts.

Obergefell (2015)

A landmark Supreme Court decision ruling that marriage is marriage, establishing that same-sex marriages performed in one state must be legally recognized in all states under the Constitution.

Privileges and Immunities

A clause in Article IV preventing states from treating citizens of other states differently than their own (such as issuing different speeding fines), with limited exceptions relating to taxes like in-state tuition or voting residency.

Enumerated Powers

Powers specifically listed and granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which include declaring war, coining money, and establishing rules of immigration and naturalization.

Necessary and Proper Clause

The provision at the end of Article I, Section 8 (also known as the elastic clause) granting Congress the power to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated powers, forming the basis for implied powers.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

An 1819 Supreme Court case ruling that creating a national bank was a constitutional implied power and a reasonable extension of Congress's Article I, Section 8 powers to coin money and regulate commerce.

Supremacy Clause

The provision in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution establishing that the Constitution and federal laws written pursuant to it represent the supreme law of the land, taking precedence over conflicting state laws.

Federalist No. 51

The essay by James Madison arguing that power should be divided vertically (federalism) in addition to horizontally (the three branches) to protect liberty and prevent tyranny.

Laboratories of Democracy

A concept articulated by Justice Louis Brandeis in 1932 characterizing the states as testing grounds that can try novel social and economic experiments without imposing risk on the rest of the nation.

Police Powers

Broad governmental authorities reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment to regulate and protect public safety, public health, welfare, morals, and public education.

Tenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment that theoretically reserves all powers not specifically delegated to the national government to the states or the people.

Agricultural Adjustment Act

A New Deal law signed by President Franklin Roosevelt that limited the number of acres farmers could plant in order to reduce supply, increase demand and prices, and improve the economic health of farmers.

Roscoe Filburn (1942 Case)

A Kansas farmer whose penalty for planting eight extra acres of wheat for personal use was upheld by the Supreme Court, establishing that individual consumption affects market demand and is regulable under the interstate commerce power.

Dual Federalism

The governing system in the United States from 1789 to 1933—analogized to a layer cake—where the national government and state governments exercised clearly separated powers with virtually no policy overlap.

Cooperative Federalism

The model of federalism that emerged after 1933—analogized to a marble cake—characterized by shared responsibilities, intertwined funding, and joint administration of public policies between federal and state levels.

Concurrent Powers

Powers exercised simultaneously by both state governments and the federal government, such as the authority to tax and the authority to write laws.

Devolution

The political philosophy and process of transferring administrative power, discretion, and federal program authority back to state governments, exemplified by federal welfare reform.

Policy Diffusion

The process by which public policy ideas and legislative models spread across states after one state successfully introduces them, such as the Texas Heartbeat Bill.

American Legislative Exchange Council

An organization that drafts model legislation that state lawmakers can copy, customize, and introduce as state public policy bills.

Sixteenth Amendment (1913)

The constitutional amendment ratified in 1913 that granted the federal government the legal authority to collect personal income taxes directly from citizens.

Categorical Grant

A federal grant-in-aid provided to states with strict limitations, explicit restrictions, and specific guidelines regarding how the funds must be spent, such as funding for Medicaid.

Block Grant

A lump sum of federal grant money provided to states that offers wide latitude and flexibility to design and administer their own programs within a broad policy area, such as welfare.