Chapter 3

Question 1

federalism

Answer 1

a political system with multiple levels of government in which each level has independent authority over some important policy areas

Question 2

confederation

Answer 2

a political system with multiple levels of government in which lower-level governments retain full sovereignty and cannot be compelled by the national government to act.

Question 3

dual federalism

Answer 3

a political system in which each level of government - national and state - is sovereign in its own sphere of policy authority.

Question 4

cooperative federalism

Answer 4

a political system in which both levels of government - national and state - are active in nearly all areas of policy and share sovereign authority.

Question 5

intergovernmentalism

Answer 5

a system in which multiple levels of government are active in a given policy area.

Question 6

elastic clause (necessary and proper clause)

Answer 6

The provision in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution stating that Congress can make whatever laws are “necessary and proper” to provide the means to carry out its enumerated powers.

Question 7

commerce clause

Answer 7

An enumerated power listed in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution that grants Congress the power to “regulate Congress with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes”.

Question 8

McCulloh v. Maryland

Answer 8

the court ruled that although this power is not expressed in the Constitution, Congress has the authority to establish a national bank according to the powers implied by the necessary and proper clause, giving the government wide latitude.

Question 9

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Answer 9

The court affirmed that Congress has the authority to regulate commerce as long as it involves more than one state.

Question 10

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Answer 10

the court ruled that the Gun-Free School Zones act passed by Congress in 1990 is unconstitutional because regulating firearms in public schools is not regulating interstate commerce. Thus the Court recognizes limitations on national government authority recognized by the commerce clause.

Question 11

grants-in-aid

Answer 11

money that is distributed to lower-level governments with the purpose of funding special projects

Question 12

categorical grants

Answer 12

grants that narrowly define how the funds are to be spent. These grants normally come with conditions that need to be satisfied in order for the money to be used.

Question 13

revenue sharing

Answer 13

a principle whereby the national government and the lower-level governments cooperate in funding a project.

Question 14

block grants

Answer 14

sums of money transferred to lower-level governments such that, as long as the general purpose of the grant is met, the lower-level governments are allowed considerable freedom in deciding how the money is spent.

Question 15

ballot initiative

Answer 15

an election in which citizens vote directly on a proposition raised by a group of fellow citizens

Question 16

referendum

Answer 16

an election in which citizens vote directly on whether to overturn a bill or constitutional amendment that has been passed by the legislature

Question 17

recall election

Answer 17

an election during the term of an elected government official in which citizens directly on whether to remove the individual from office.

Question 18

Baker v. Carr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)

Answer 18

Together, these rulings mandated that all electoral districts of state and national legislatures (with the important exception of the U.S. Senate) must be equal in size by population within each state.

Question 19

home rule

Answer 19

the constitutional or legal authority held by local governments that allows them to govern themselves with little or no interference from the state.

Question 20

unitary system

Answer 20

a political system in which the national government holds ultimate authority over all areas of policy and over the actions of subunit governments.

Question 21

reserved powers

Answer 21

those powers not grants to the national government by the Constitution, and therefore reserved to the states.