GOV UNIT 2

Federalism

Power is divided between the central/national government and the regional/state government

Interstate commerce (National)

Buying, selling, moving, or communicating of products, services, or money across state borders

Intrastate commerce (state)

Trade, traffic, or the movements of goods and services that stays entirely within the borders of a single U.S state

Advantages of the federal system

• The size of the U.S (territory)

• Experimentation: innovative polices and programs

• Subcultures: lots of different cultures (people set apart from mainstream culture)

Disadvantages of the federal system

• Lack of uniform pity of state laws

• Difficulty coordinating government policies at the national and local levels

• Always a danger that the national power will be expanded

Delegated powers

Authority and specific duties granted to a government or transferred from one branch to another (inherent, expressed, implied powers)

Expressed/enumerated powers (delegated power)

• Spelled out in the constitution

• The power to coin money and the power to regulate interstate commerce (trade & war)

• Ex: 16th amendment (income taxes)

Implied powers (delegated power)

• Not written in const. but reasonably suggested

• government authorities not directly written in the U.S constitution but assumed to be granted

• Ex: power to print paper currency → dollar bills

Inherent powers (delegated power)

• Not written in const. but belong in national governments

• powers that governments have to ensure the nations integrity and survival as a political unit

• Ex: any national government must have the ability to make treaties, regulate immigration, territorial, wage war, and make peace

Reserved powers

• Not granted to Federal government but not denied to states

• Political powers that are not explicitly granted

• Drinking age, legal marriage age, public education → the power of the state to protect and promote public health, the public safety, and general welfare

Concurrent powers

• Both states and national have these powers and they’re used separately and simultaneously

• Collect taxes, define crimes, condemn or take private property for public use

Article 1, Section 8

• Sets forth the enumerated powers of U.S Congress → coin money; regulate interstate commerce

• Lists specific areas in which the federal government is permitted to make laws and take action

10th amendment/reserved powers

• 10th amendment: any powers not given to the federal government are given to the states/people

• reserved powers: are rules and authorities that the national government doesn’t have

Police powers

• Each state has the ability to regulate its internal affairs had to enact whatever laws are necessary to protect the health, safety, welfare, and morals of its people

• Ex: establishment of public schools and regulation of marriage/divorce

Necessary and proper clause (elastic clause)

• Grants congress the authority to pass all laws needed to execute its explicitly listed powers

• This gives congress flexibility to pass laws not explicitly listed in the Constitution

• Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18

Commerce Clause

• Grants congress the power to regulate commerce (governing economic activity that crosses state lines) with foreign nations

• Article 1, section 8, clause 3

Tax and spend for general welfare clause

• grants congress the power to pay taxes and spend public funds to pay debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare

• Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1

McCulloch v. Maryland

• National bank in Maryland. Maryland wanted to tax the bank

• Bank protected under the necessary and proper clase, tried to Taxing and Spending (General Welfare Clause). Supremacy of national government means Maryland can’t tax

• Increased national power

• Established the doctrine of implied powers

Gibbons v. Ogden

• Steamboat monopoly permit from New York challenged

• Supreme Court defines commerce broadly and recognizes the national government’s exclusive right to regulate the waterway under the Interstate Commerce Clause

• Increased national power

• Made it so the national govt. had power to regulate interstate commerce

Supremacy Clause

A constitutional rule stating that federal law wins if it conflicts wth state law

Dual Federalism

A system of government in which the federal and state governments have separate, clearly defined powers without overlapping responsibilities

Cooperative federalism

Federalism in which the states and federal government cooperate/work together in solving problems

New federalism

A shift from nation-centered federalism to state-centered federalism

Devolution

The transfer of power to a lower level, especially by central government to local or regional administration

Federal mandate

An official law, rule, or order issued by the national government that forces state governments, local governments, or private businesses to do something specific

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S

• The motel wanted to refuse black customers, but that violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title II)

• National government’s exclusive can regulate companies that impact interstate commerce under the commerce clause

• increased national power

South Dakota v. Dole

• congress sought to withhold 5% of federal highway funds from states that did not raise the drinking age

• the regulation served to “promote the General Welfare” and was not unduly coercive

• Increased national power

U.S. v. Lopez

• Federal Gun-Free School Zones Act cited in the prosecution of Alphonzo Lopez, who bought a firearm to school

• Federal government exceeded its power under the commerce clause. Guns in school zones are not interstate commerce (10th amend.) worth noting that congress later added a commerce “hook” and re-passed the law

• Increased state power

Gonzales v. Raich

• Voters in California passed the Compassionate Use Act which conflicted with the federal Controlled Substances Act

• Congress may criminalize the local use of marijuana under the commerce clause even though its non-commercial, medical, and legal under state law

• Increased national power

Article 1, Section 9

Sets specific limits and restrictions on the powers of the legislative branch

Ex Post Facto

• Law that changes the legal consequences of an action after it has already occurred

• Protects people from unfair government punishment

Bill of attainder

Legislative act that declares a specific person or group guilty of a crime and punishes them without a regular judicial trial

Habeas corpus

A legal procedure that allows a person who is detained or imprisoned to challenge the lawfulness of their confinement before a court

Article 1

Legislative branch

Article 2

Executive branch

Article 3

Judicial branch

Preamble

• Form a more perfect union

• Establish justice

• Ensure domestic tranquility

• Provide for the common defense

• Promote the general welfare

• Secure the blessings of liberty

Formal amendment

• Change of the written language

-Proposed by 2/3 of U.S congress

-Ratified by ¾ of States Legislators

Informal amend/change

• Not a change in the language (happens all the time)

-Basic legislation

-Executive actions

-Court decisions

Competitive federalism

• A system of government where state and regional authorities compete with each other for resources, investments, and residents

Fiscal federalism

• The study of how spending and taxation responsibilities are divided among different levels of government