Ch.3 Federalism Flashcards
Federalism
The division of power across the local, state, and national governments
Sovereign Power
The supreme power of an independent state to regulate its internal affairs without foreign interference
Police powers
the power to enforce laws and provide public safety
Concurrent powers
Responsibility for particular policy areas, such as transportation that are shared by federal, state, and local governments.
Unitary government
a system in which the national, centralized government holds ultimate authority. It is the most common form of government in the world.
Confederal Government
A form of government in which states hold power over a limited national government.
Intergovernmental Organizations
Organizations that seek to coordinate policy across member nations. Ex: UN, EU, World Bank.
Full faith and credit clause
Part of article IV of the constitution requiring that each state’s law be honored by other states. For example, a legal marriage in one state must be recognized across state lines.
Privileges and Immunities clause
Part of article IV of the constitution requiring that states must treat nonstate residents within their borders as they would treat their own residents. This was meant to promote commerce and travel between states.
States rights
the idea that states are entitled to a certain amount of self-government, free of federal government intervention. This became a central issue in the period leading up to the civil war.
Dual federalism
the form of federalism favored by former chief justice Roger Taney in which national and state governments are seen as distinct entities providing separate services. This model limits the power of the national government
Cooperative Federalism
A form of federalism in which national and state governments work together to provide services efficiently. This form emerged in the late 1930s representing a profound shift toward less concrete boundaries of responsibility in national-state relations.
Picket fence federalism
a more refined and realistic form of cooperative federalism in which policy makers within a particular policy area work together across levels of government.
Fiscal federalism
a form of federalism in which federal funds are allocated to the lower levels of government through transfer payments or grants.
Categorical powers
federal aid to state or local governments that is provided for a specific purpose, such as a mass transit program within the transportation budget or a school lunch program within the education budget.
Block grants
federal aid provided to state government to be spent within a certain policy area, but the state can decide how to spend the money within that area.
Unfunded mandates
Federal laws that require that to do certain things but do not provide state governments with funding to implement these policies.
Coercive federalism
the federal government pressures the states to change their policies by using regulations, mandates, and conditions (often involving threats to withdraw federal funding).
Federal preemptions
impositions of national priorities on the states through national legislation that is based on the constitution’s supermacy clause.
Competitive federalism
states compete to attract businesses and jobs through the policies they adopt
remedial legislation
national laws that address discrimnatory state laws. Authority for such legislation comes from section 5 of the 14th amendment.
