Chapter 3: Fedralism Flashcards
The national and state government each have some degree of authority and autonomy
Sovereign power
The power to enforce laws and provide for public safety.
Police powers
Responsibilities for particular policy areas, such as transportation, that are shared by federal, state, and local governments
Concurrent powers
A system in which the national, centralized government holds the ultimate authority. It is the common form of government in the world
Unitary government
A form of government in which states hold power over a limited national government
Confederal system
Organizations that seek to coordinate policy across member nations
Intergovernmental organizations
Part of Article IV of the constitution requiring that each state’s laws be honored by the other states. For example, a legal marriage in one state must be recognized across state lines
Full faith and credit clause
Part of Article IV or the constitution requiring that states must treat no state residents within their borders as they would treat their own residents. This was meant to promote commerce and travel between the States
Privileges and immunities clause
The idea that if the national government passes an unconstitutional law, the people of the states (through their state legislatures) can declare the law void. The idea provided the basis for southern seccession and the civil war
Doctrine of interposition
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
States’ rights
The form of federalism favored by Chief Justice Roger Taney in which the national and state governments are seen as distinct entities providing separate services. This model limits the power of the national government.
Dual federalism
A form of federalism in which national and state governments work together to provide services efficiently. This form emerged in the late 1930’s, representing a profound shift toward less concrete boundaries of responsibilities in national-state relations
Cooperative Federalism
A more refined and realistic form of cooperative federalism in which policy makers within a particular policy area work together across the levels of government.
Picket fence federalism
A form of federalism in which federal funds are allocated to the lower levels of government through transfer payments or grants
Fiscal federalism
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
Categorical grants
Federal aid to a state government to be spent within a certain policy area, but the state can decide how to spend the money within at area
Block grants
A type of grant used in the 1970’s and 1980’s in which the federal government provided state governments with funds that could be spent at each state’s discretion. These grants gave states more control over programs
General revenue sharing(GRS)
Federal laws that require the states to do certain things but do not provide state governments the funds to implement these policies.
Unfunded mandates
A form of federalism in which the federal government pressures the states to change their policies by using regulations, mandates, and conditions ( often involving threats to withdraw federal funding)
Coercive federalism
Impositions in national priorities on the states through national legislation that is based on the constitution’s supremacy clause.
Federal preemption
A form of federalism in which the states compete to attract business and jobs through the policies they adopt
Competitive federalism
National laws that address discriminatory state laws. Authority for such legislation comes from section 5 of the 14 amendment
Remedial legislation
Based on the 11 amendment, immunity that prevents state governments from being sued in federal court by private parties unless the state consents to the suit.
States’ sovereign immunity
The division of power across the local, state, and national governments
Fedralism
