Chapter 3: Federalism

Question 1

federalism

Answer 1

a system of government in which power is divided, by a constitution, between a central government and regional governments

Question 2

unitary system

Answer 2

a centralized government system in which lower levels of government have little power independent of the national government

Question 3

expressed powers

Answer 3

specific powers granted by the Constitution to Congress (Article I, Section 8) and to the president (Article II)

Question 4

implied powers

Answer 4

powers derived from the necessary and proper clause of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution; such powers are not specifically expressed, but are implied through the expansive interpretation of delegate powers

Question 5

necessary and proper clause

Answer 5

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which provides Congress with the authority to make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its expressed powers

Question 6

reserved powers

Answer 6

powers, derived from the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, that are not specifically delegated to the national government or denied to the states

Question 7

police power

Answer 7

power reserved to the state government to regulate the health, safety, and morals of its citizens

Question 8

concurrent powers

Answer 8

authority possessed by both state and national governments, such as the power to levy taxes

Question 9

full and faith credit clause

Answer 9

provision from Article IV, Section 1, of the Constitution requiring that the states normally honor the public acts and judicial decisions that take place in another state

Question 10

privileges and immunities clause

Answer 10

provision, from Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution, that a state cannot discriminate against someone from another state or give its own residents special privileges

Question 11

home rule

Answer 11

power delegated by the state to a local unit of government to manage its own affairs

Question 12

dual federalism

Answer 12

the system of government that prevailed in the United States from 1789 to 1937 in which most fundamental government powers were shared between the federal and state governments

Question 13

commerce clause

Answer 13

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which delegates to Congress the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States and with the Indian tribes”: this clause was interpreted by the Supreme Court in favor of national power over the economy.

Question 14

grants-in-aid

Answer 14

programs through which Congress provides money to state and local governments on the condition that the funds be employed for purposes defined by the federal government

Question 15

categorical grants

Answer 15

congressional grants given to states and localities on the condition that expenditures be limited to a problem or group specified by law

Question 16

project grants

Answer 16

grant programs in which state and local governments submit proposals to federal agencies and for which funding is provided on a competitive basis

Question 17

formula grants

Answer 17

grants-in-aid in which a formula is used to determine the amount of federal funds a state or local government will receive

Question 18

cooperative government

Answer 18

a type of federalism existing since the New Deal era in which grants-in-aid have been used strategically to encourage states and localities (without commanding them) to pursue nationally defined goals