American Federalism Flashcards
What way is the federal government spelled out in the constitution divides power between two levels of gov
the states and the federal government
What does federalism do?
federalism both safeguards state interests and creates a strong union led by a capable central government.
American federalism also seeks to…
…balance the forces of decentralization and centralization.
When do we see decentralization of gov?
When we cross state borders and see how their governments differ
Centralization is apparent in the fact…
…that the federal government is the only entity permitted to print money, to challenge the legality of state laws, or to employ money grants and mandates to shape state actions.
2 ways that modern democracies divide gov
- The first and more common mechanism shares power among three branches of government—the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.
- The second, federalism, apportions power between two levels of government: national and subnational. In
How does America divide it’s government out of the two common ways that modern democracies usually divide their gov
It implements both ways
What does the therm “federal gov” mean in the US?
to the government at the national level, while the term states means governments at the subnational level.
Federalism
an institutional arrangement that creates two relatively autonomous levels of government, each possessing the capacity to act directly on behalf of the people with the authority granted to it by the national constitution.
What is the national gov responsible for?
The national government is responsible for handling matters that affect the country as a whole,
What are subnational or state gov reponsible for?
Subnational, or state governments, are responsible for matters that lie within their regions
Who heads subnational issues
each state’s elected governor and legislature.
Characteristic common to federal government
a written national constitution that cannot be changed without the substantial consent of subnational governments.
The main advantages of the super majority requirement concerning changing the constitution:
that no changes to the Constitution can occur unless there is broad support within Congress and among states.
The main disadvantages of the super majority requirement concerning changing the constitution:
The potential drawback is that numerous national amendment initiatives—such as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which aims to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex—have failed because they cannot garner sufficient consent among members of Congress or, in the case of the ERA, the states.
who assumes executive power
the president
who assumes judicial power
federal courts
who assumes legislative power
executive authority
why do national and subnational gov interact?
the ability of the federal and state governments to achieve their objectives often depends on the cooperation of the other level of government.
unitary system
makes subnational governments dependent on the national government, where significant authority is concentrated.
Authority in a confederation
decentralized
What form of gov does the constitution protect
federalism
History of the powers of the state governments
- not listed in the original consitution
- identification of the powers of the statesadded durring the ratification
writ of habeas corpus
enables someone in custody to petition a judge to determine whether that person’s detention is legal;
bill of attainder
a legislative action declaring someone guilty without a trial;
ex post facto law
criminalizes an act retroactively.
full faith and credit clause or the comity clause
, requires the states to accept court decisions, public acts, and contracts of other states.
The privileges and immunities clause
out-of-staters by denying them such guarantees as access to courts, legal protection, property rights, and travel rights.
Developments when it comes to the distribution of finances:
First, the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913 authorized Congress to impose income taxes without apportioning it among the states on the basis of population,
The second development regulates federal grants, that is, transfers of federal money to state and local governments.
Intergovernmental grants: when economic times are good, such grants help:
states, cities, municipalities, and townships carry out their regular functions.
What does the federal framework of the Constitution strive to do?
aims to balance the forces of decentralized and centralized governance in general terms;
Who championed legislative efforts to create a publicly chartered bank.
Alexander Hamilton
Who staunchly opposed Hamilton’s plan on the constitutional grounds that the national government had no authority to create a publicly charted bank
Thomas Jefferson
What happened when the first publicly charted bank’s charter expired in 1811?
Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans prevailed in blocking its renewal.
What happened after the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans prevailed in blocking the publicly charted’s renewal.
The fiscal hardships that plagued the government during the War of 1812, coupled with the fragility of the country’s financial system, convinced Congress and then-president James Madison to create the Second Bank of the United States in 1816.
Why did many states reject the second publicly charted bank?
Many states rejected the Second Bank, arguing that the national government was infringing upon the states’ constitutional jurisdiction.
How didthe political showdown between Maryland and the national gov arise?
A political showdown between Maryland and the national government emerged when James McCulloch, an agent for the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank, refused to pay a tax that Maryland had imposed on all out-of-state chartered banks.
McCulloch’s standoff raised two constitutional questions:
Did Congress have the authority to charter a national bank? Were states allowed to tax federal property?
What did Various states railed against the nationalization of power result in?
nullification
How did A nullification crisis emerge?
A nullification crisis emerged in the 1830s over President Andrew Jackson’s tariff acts of 1828 and 1832.
What did nullfiers argue?
nullifiers argued that high tariffs on imported goods benefited northern manufacturing interests while disadvantaging economies in the South.
Ordinance of Nullification
passed by South Carolina declared that the 1829 and 1832 Tariffs were unconstitutional and thus null and void. They threatened to leave the union.
When was the ultimate showdown between national gov and state gov
Civil War
Dred Scott v. Sandford
the Supreme Court ruled that the national government lacked the authority to ban slavery in the territories.
Why did the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860 led eleven southern states to secede from the United States
because they believed the new president would challenge the institution of slavery.
What did the conflict to preserve the union become
a conflict to end slavery
Emancipation Proclamation
freed all enslaved people in the rebellious states.
Who issued the Emancipation proclomation
Abraham lincon
What did the defeat of the south have a huge impact on?
the balance of power between the states and the national government
In what 2 ways did the defeat of the south disrupt the balance of power between the states and national gov?
First, the Union victory put an end to the right of states to secede and to challenge legitimate national laws. Second, Congress imposed several conditions for readmitting former Confederate states into the Union; among them was ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
after the Civil War the power balance shifted toward the national government, a movement that had begun several decades before with….
… McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824).
With the exception of the Civil War, the __________ settled the power struggles between the states and national government.
supreme court
What happens under dual federalism
, the states and national government exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction.
what changed the socioeconomic landscape of the United States.
industrialization
Why did collusive behavior among powerful firms emerged in several industries.
Because there was no national regulatory supervision to ensure fairness in market practices,
