APGOV Unit 2
What is a trend?
Something that changes or stays the same over time.
To prove a trend, you must include 2 pieces if data from the same category
What is a similarity or difference?
A comparison or contrast between two different things
To prove a similarity exists, you must include 1 piece of data that is consistent between two categories
To prove a difference exists, you must include 2 pieces of data that are different between the two categories
What is a pattern?
Something that repeats
More often than not, part C asks you something that is from part B.
Pick an answer for B that you know you can explain in part C
Public policy:
What the government does or does not do about a problem that comes before it.
Who makes public policy in the US?
All levels (federalism) and branches (separation of powers) of government have the ability to make public policy
Two types of public policy:
Foreign policy
The decisions a government makes when dealing with other nations
Domestic policy
The decisions a government makes relating to issues directly affecting the people in its own country
What are two main categories of domestic public policy?
Social issues: government policies that regulate personal behavior
Examples:
Abortion
Drug legalization
LGBTQ rights
Patriotism
obesity
Economic issues: government policies that deal with money or regulate business
Examples:
Taxing
Employment laws
Business regulation
Reserved powers examples:
Police powers to protect citizens health, safety, and morality (gambling laws, drug laws, cell phone use while driving)
Crime and punishment/death penalty
Education
Licensing (driving, teaching, practicing medicine/law, marriage)
Corporate charters (legal HQs of american corporations)
Land use (zoning, highways, eminent domain)
Reserved powers are found in the tenth amendment
What effect does the tenth amendment have on the federal system?
The tenth amendment protects state sovereignty
Concurrent powers:
Taxing (both federal and state taxes)
Spending (governments may spend the money they collect)
Judicial systems (there are both federal and state courts)
Diversity of public policy:
Specific policies that differ from state to state
Sports betting
Abortion
Death penalty
Conceal carry
Minimum wage
Felon voting laws
State governments play a significant role in the implementation of public policy
The federal government spends a lot of effort seeking the cooperation of state governments
Conflicts between federal and state governments often center around who has the authority, not on the wisdom of policy
Conflicts also frequently involve debates over who pays the costs of implementing a policy
Required supreme court cases
14 landmark US supreme court decisions. Need to understand the facts, issue, holding, rationale, and significance of each case.
In essay #3 on the AP exam, youll be given a prompt on a non-required case and you have to compare it to a required case.
Need to be able to recall details from the required cases from memory in order to compare/contrast to the required info
Mcchulloch v. Maryland
This case determined whether the US follows Hamilton's view of federalism and the constitution.
Hamilton's view:
Loose interpretation of the constitution
Federal government having more power
Jeffersons view:
Narrow interpretation of the constitution
State governments having more power
The supreme court's decision in McCulloch v Maryland clarified how the necessary and proper clause would work within federalism. This can be defined with a simple formula:
Enumerated power + necessary/proper clause = implied power
Federal system of government complicates the policy making process and implementation of laws
Conflicts between federal and state systems of governments often center around who has the authority, not on the wisdom of the policy.
Conflicts also frequently involve debates over who pays the costs of implementing a policy
State government often plays key role in implementation of public policy
Why is there a lack of clarity about the relationship between the federal and state governments?
Hamilton and Madison worked on the constitution, yet could not agree on its meaning.
Conflicts have opened the door for the supreme court to interpret the constitution on issues of federalism.
Commerce clause:
Congress used the commerce clause to drastically increase its power throughout the last three centuries.
Congress regulates commerce between the states
States have the power to regulate commerce in their state
A restrictive interpretation reduces the power of the federal government
A loose interpretation enhances the power of the federal government
Over time, the supreme court's interpretation of the commerce clause has shifted the balance of power between states and national government.
Since 1942, congress has used the commerce clause to pass all kinds of laws
Civil rights
Environmental protection
Drug laws
Prior to 1942, the supreme court usually ruled in the states’ favor. There was clear distinction between commerce inside a state and interstate commerce.
From the great depression up to 1995, the supreme court broadly interpreted the commerce clause, ruling in favor of congress in 100% of commerce clause cases. Congress only had to prove that whatever they were regulating impacted the economy in some way=low threshold.
This greatly increased the power of the federal government.
In 1995, one landmark supreme court case changed all this.
The decision in US v Lopez caused a new era of federalism where certain powers were transferred from the federal government back to the states. This is called devolution. This decision gave states back more power over intrastate commerce and took power away from the federal government. This case also began a new test to decide whether or not an act of congress actually fits within the power allotted by the commerce clause.
Each act must connect to at least one of these three things:
Channels of interstate commerce, including highways, waterways, and air traffic
People, machines, and things moving in, or used in carrying out interstate commerce.
Economic activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
If citizens are unhappy with scotus decisions they can do the following:
Pressure state legislatures to enact laws on the state level in policy areas where statesa have reserved powers
Pressure congress to enact laws on the national level in policy areas where the federal government has enumerated or implied powers
Elect a president who will nominate supreme court justices that better align with citizen’s ideologies
Amend the constitution or deny congress certain powers
Grants in aid:
Money given by the federal government to the states
Difference between categorical grant and a block grant:
Categorical grant-federal grants for a specific purpose
Block grant- many related categorical grants bundled together with less specific instructions (broadly defined)
Since the 1960s, grants in aid have become more about what the federal government ses as national needs and less about what needs states identify for themselves.
Why did this change occur?
The 1960s was a period of federal activism where the federal government took a more active role in trying to address societal problems like poverty, crime, pollution, and drugs.
Aka LBJ’s “great society”
Federal government prefers to give out categorical grants
States prefer to receive block grants
Conditions of aid:
Terms set by the federal government that states must meet in order to receive certain federal funds ( the “strings” attached to federal grants)
The 1984 national minimum drinking age act required that states prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving state highway funds.
If federal money has so many strings attached, why do states take the money at all?
An increasingly large percentage of state budgets come from the federal government.
The federal government is able to offer states so much money because of the 16th amendment, AKA federal income tax
Congresses fiscal powers are the powers to tax and spend to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.
Thus, when congress uses its fiscal powers to affect which level of government has control over a particular policy area, they affect the balance of power between the federal and state governments. Which influences the way our federal system operates, hence: fiscal federalism.
2 types of statutory laws the congress can pass:
Programs:
Laws that create government-run programs/agencies to meet the peoples needs
Social security
medicare/medicaid
Temporary assistance for needy families
Supplemental nutrition assistance program (food stamps)
Mandate
Laws that require people or entities to do something
Federal mandate:
A requirement the federal government imposes that states must meet whether or not they accept federal grants
In order to issue a mandate, congress still must connect it to one of their constitutionally enumerated powers
The supreme court can also issue mandates through their rulings- this power is based on the supreme court's power to interpret the constitution. Ex: Brown v Board
Unfunded mandate:
A federal mandate that requires a state or local government to perform certain actions, which affect state/local budgets, but come with no federal funding
It is the responsibility of the state/local government to pay for the implementation of the law, with local taxpayers footing the bill.
Ex: ADA, unfunded mandate which affects taxpayers in an effort to make a more inclusive country.
Policy disputes:
Federal mandates can cause tension because states may not agree with these mandates, but they cannot refuse to follow them (supremacy clause)
Federal mandates allow the federal government to exercise control over the states by influencing/controlling public policy on the state level.
Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
Objectives:
Insure the uninsured: force states to expand medicaid eligibility though conditions of aid. Individual mandate-every person required to have health insurance
End denial of coverage for preexisting conditions: made it illegal for insurance companies to refuse coverage because of a preexisting condition
Control cost of medical insurance: by forcing everyone to have health insurance, more people are paying premiums to insurance companies, causing the price of insurance to go down for everyone
Health insurance before obamacare:
Voluntarily uninsured-wealthy
Involuntarily uninsured-cannot afford
Poor enough to be covered under original medicaid
The supreme court struck down the medicaid expansion provisions by ruling that congress cannot coerce the states to expand medicaid by threatening to take away federal money they were all receiving.
This allowed states to decide whether or not to expand medicaid.
Devolution:
Federal government relinquishes powers to the state governments. Intended to slow the growth of the federal government.
1994 midterms: republicans win majority in house and senate for the first time since the 50s. This is called the republican revolution.
After this, republican congress members started to reform two programs:
Medicaid
Welfare
AFDC: categorical grant program that provided cash welfare payments to households with deceased, or incapacitated caregivers. (pre-’96) guaranteed benefits to individuals below state determined eligibility levels, which were regulated by the government
TANF: designed to help needy families to sustain self sufficiency. Funded by block grants. (post-’96) states were completely able to regulate guidelines on who received aid.
Concept application question:
ACTOR: Who is taking the action? Make this clear
ACTION: what is being done? Fully describe the action taken
TARGET: who/what is the action directed towards
OUTCOME: how will the action affect what happens