Chapter 3 Vocab

Question 1

Federal System

Answer 1

system of government in which the national government and state governments share power and derive all authority from the people

Question 2

Confederation

Answer 2

Type of government in which the national government derives its powers from the states; a league of independent states

Question 3

Unitary System

Answer 3

System of government in which the local and regional governments derive all authority from a strong national government

Question 4

Enumerated Powers

Answer 4

the powers of the national government specifically granted to Congress in Article I, section 8 of the constitution

Question 5

Implied Powers

Answer 5

The powers of the national government derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause

Question 6

Tenth Amendment

Answer 6

The final part of the Bill of Rights that defines the basic principle of American federalism in stating that the powers not delegated to the national government are reserved to the states or the people

Question 7

Reserved Powers

Answer 7

Powers reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment that lie at the foundation of a state’s right to legislate for the public health and welfare of its citizens

Question 8

Concurrent Powers

Answer 8

Powers shared by the national and state governments

Question 9

Bill of Attainder

Answer 9

a law declaring an act illegal without a judicial trial

Question 10

Ex Post Facto Laws

Answer 10

Law that makes an act punishable as a crime even if the action was legal at the time it was committed

Question 11

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Answer 11

Section of Article IV of the Constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in another

Question 12

Privileges and Immunities Clause

Answer 12

Part of Article IV of the Constitution guaranteeing that the citizens of each state are afforded the same rights as citizens of all other states

Question 13

Extradition Clause

Answer 13

Part of Article IV of the Constitution that requires states to extradite, or return, criminals to states where they have been convicted or are to stand trial

Question 14

Interstate Compacts

Answer 14

Contracts between states that can carry the force of law; generally now used as a tool to address multistate policy concerns.

Question 15

Dillon’s Rule

Answer 15

A premise articulated by Judge John F. Dillon in 1868 which states the local governments do not have any inherent sovereignty and instead must be authorized by state governments that can create or abolish them

Question 16

Charter

Answer 16

A document that, like a constitution, specifies the basic policies, procedures, and institutions of local government. Charters for local governments must be approved by state legislatures

Question 17

County

Answer 17

The basic administrative unit of local government

Question 18

Municipality

Answer 18

City governments created in response to the emergence of relatively densely populated areas

Question 19

Special District

Answer 19

A local government that is restricted to a particular function

Question 20

McCulloch v. Maryland

Answer 20

The Supreme Court upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax the federal bank, using the Constitution’s supremacy clause. The court’s broad interpretation of the necessary and proper clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers

Question 21

Gibbons v. Ogden

Answer 21

The Supreme Court upheld broad congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. The Court’s broad interpretation of the Constitution’s commerce clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers

Question 22

Barron v. Baltimore

Answer 22

The Supreme Court ruled that the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment did not apply to the actions of states. This decision limited the Bill of Rights to the actions of Congress alone

Question 23

Dual Federalism

Answer 23

The belief that having separate and equally powerful levels of government is the best arrangement, often referred to as layer-cake federalism

Question 24

Nullification

Answer 24

The right of a state to declare void a federal law

Question 25

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Answer 25

The Supreme Court concluded that the U.S. Congress lacked the constitutional authority to bar slavery in the territories.The decision narrowed the scope of national power, while it enhanced that of the states

Question 26

Sixteenth Amendment

Answer 26

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that authorized Congress to enact national income tax

Question 27

Seventeenth Amendment

Answer 27

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that made senators directly elected by the people, removing their selection from state legislatures

Question 28

Cooperative Federalism

Answer 28

The intertwined relationship between the national state, and local governments that began with the New Deal, often referred to as marble-cake federalism

Question 29

New Deal

Answer 29

The name given to the program of “Relief, Recovery, Reform” begun by President Roosevelt in 1933 to bring the U.S. out of the Great Depression

Question 30

Categorical Grant

Answer 30

Grant that appropriates federal funds to states for a specific purpose

Question 31

New Federalism

Answer 31

Federal-state relationship proposed by Reagan administration during the1980s; hallmark is returning administrative powers to state governments

Question 32

Block Grant

Answer 32

A large scale grant given to a state by the federal government with only general spending guidelines

Question 33

Programmatic Request

Answer 33

Federal funds designated for special projects within a state or congressional district

Question 34

Preemption

Answer 34

A concept that allows the national government to override state or local actions in certain policy areas

Question 35

Progressive Federalism

Answer 35

A pragmatic approach to federalism that views relations between national and state governments as both coercive and cooperative