chapter 2 study guide Flashcards
federal grant to local government: a grant of money from the federal budget to state or local governments to spend on local services
block grants
grants, issued by the United States Congress, which may be spent only for narrowly-defined purposes. Additionally, recipients of categorical grants are often required to match a portion of the federal funds. About 90% of federal aid dollars are spent in categorical grants.
categorical grants
The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” Courts and commentators have tended to discuss each of these three areas of commerce as a separate power granted to Congress.
the commerce clause
political power exercised independently in the same field of legislation by both federal and state governments
concurrent powers
of, or pertaining to two or more nations
con-federal system
the state governments, local governments, and the federal government share responsibility in the governance of the people. They cooperate in working out details concerning which level of government takes responsibility for particular areas and creating policy in that area.
cooperative federalism
when a government gives block grants and assigns them into categories
creeping categorization
requirements by any entity that receives federal monies be they states organizations municipalities.
cross-cutting requirements
federal orders in which the national government pulls or threatens to pull funding from one state-related expense because of unrelated offense
cross-over sanctions
Delegated powers in the US Constitution would be those powers that are specifically expressed or authorized as being given by the people to that branch of the Federal Government.
delegated powers
the act of transferring federal level operations such as healthcare , over to the state giving the state more power
devolution revolution
the national government and the state governments have sovereign power in their respective spheres of authority. There is clear demarcation or separation of powers, programs, and resources. It is also called the exercise of concurrent powers, or layer cake federalism.
dual federalism
a statement in the U.S. constitution (Article I, Section 8) granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers.
elastic clause
governmental power to appropriate private property: the power of a government to take private property for public use, usually with compensation paid to the owner
eminent domain
surrender of criminal to another authority: the process of returning somebody accused of a crime by a different legal authority to that authority for trial or punishment
extradation
A system where a country is composed of internally self-governing political divisions, subject to the authority of a central government in matter that affect the country as a whole.
federal system
is concerned with “understanding which functions and instruments are best centralized and which are best placed in the sphere of decentralized levels of government” (Oates, 1999). In other words, it is the study of how competencies (expenditure side) and fiscal instruments (revenue side) are allocated across different (vertical) layers of the administration. An important part of its subject matter is the system of transfer payments or grants by which a central government shares its revenues with lower levels of government.
fiscal federalism
addresses the duties that states within the United States have to respect the “public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.”
full faith and credit clause
was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.[2] The case was argued by some of America’s most admired and capable attorneys at the time.
gibbons v Ogden
- A giving of federal funds to a state or local government to subsidize a public project.2. A giving of funds to an institution or a person in order to subsidize a project or program
grants-in-aid system
a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner to further economic development. In a 5–4 decision, the Court held that the general benefits a community enjoyed from economic growth qualified private redevelopment plans as a permissible “public use” under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Kelo v New london CT
a broad interpretation of a statute or document by a court.
loose construction
authoritative order: an official command or instruction from an authoritysupport from electorate: the authority bestowed on a government or other organization by an electoral victory, effectively authorizing it to carry out the policies for which it campaigned
mandate
a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. The state of Maryland had attempted to impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland. Though the law, by its language, was generally applicable to all banks not chartered in Maryland, the Second Bank of the United States was the only out-of-state bank then existing in Maryland, and the law was recognized in the court’s opinion as having specifically targeted the U.S. Bank. The Court invoked the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution, which allowed the Federal government to pass laws not expressly provided for in the Constitution’s list of express powers, provided those laws are in useful furtherance of the express powers of Congress under the Constitution.
McCulloch v Maryland
when federal law takes over state law. It is written into the Constitution and applies to national treaties and federal statues. Meaning the states do not have authority of federal laws.
National supremacy
The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
necessary and proper clause
invalidation of something: the act of making something legally invalidcancellation of something: the act of canceling something ou
nullification
prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner. The text of the clause reads:The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States
privileges and immunity
A new model of federalism - regulatory federalism - evolved with the advent (since the mid- 1960s) of extensive federal regulations mandating functions for states and localities to perform. Regulatory federalism is a term used to describe the emergence of federal programs aimed at, or implemented by, state and local governments.
regulated federalism
a political power that a constitution reserves exclusively to the jurisdiction of a particular political authority.
reserved powers
distribution of federal funds: the practice of distributing a portion of federal income to state and city governments
revenue sharing
most often applied to agreements among states or between nations on matters in which they have a common concern.The Constitution contains the which prohibits one state from entering into a compact with another state without the consent of Congress.
state compact/contract
refers to a particular legal philosophy of judicial interpretation that limits or restricts judicial interpretation
strict construction
only applies if Congress is acting in pursuit of its constitutionally authorized powers. Federal laws are valid and are supreme, so long as those laws were adopted in pursuance of—that is, consistent with—the Constitution. Nullification is the legal theory that states have the right to nullify, or invalidate, federal laws which they view as being unconstitutional; or federal laws that they view as having exceeded Congresses’ constitutionally authorized powers. The Supreme Court has rejected nullification, finding that under Article III of the Constitution, the power to declare federal laws unconstitutional has been delegated to the federal courts and that states do not have the authority to nullify federal law.[2]
supremacy clause
an amendment to the U.S. constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, guaranteeing to the states and the people those rights that are not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution
tenth amendment
when a new piece of Federal legislation would require another government agency, or the private sector, to perform functions for which it has no funds. When the Federal government prevents another government entity from imposing taxes, that is also considered an unfunded mandate.
Unfunded mandates
A system of government in which one central government holds most of the political power
unitary governments
the first United States Supreme Court case since the New Deal to set limits to Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
United States V. Lopez
a United States Supreme Court decision which held that parts of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 were unconstitutional because they exceeded congressional power under the Commerce Clause and under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
United states V morrison
