Chapter 3 Vocabulary

Question 1

Federalism

Answer 1

The division of power across the local, state, and national governments. (page 71)

Question 2

Sovereign power

Answer 2

The national and state government each have some degree of authority and autonomy. (page 71)

Question 3

Police powers

Answer 3

The power to enforce laws and provide for public safety. (page 72)

Question 4

Concurrent powers

Answer 4

Responsibilities for particular policy areas, such as transportation, that are shared by federal, state, and local governments. (page 72)

Question 5

Unitary government

Answer 5

A system in which the national, centralized government holds ultimate authority. It is the most common form of government in the world. (page 73)

Question 6

Confederal government

Answer 6

A form of government in which states hold power over a limited national government. (page 74)

Question 7

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

Answer 7

An association of sovereign states that works to protect human rights, increase living standards, and acheive policy goals throughout the world. (page 74)

Question 8

Full faith and credit clause

Answer 8

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. (page 77)

Question 9

Privileges and immunities clause

Answer 9

Part of Article IV of the Constitution requiring that states must treat nonstate residents within their borders as they would treat their own residents. This was meant to promote commerce and travel between states. (page 77)

Question 10

Doctrine of interposition

Answer 10

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. This idea provided the basis for southern secession and the Civil War. (page 80)

Question 11

States’ rights

Answer 11

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. (page 80)

Question 12

Dual federalism

Answer 12

The form of federalism favored by Chief Justice Roger Taney in which national and state governments are seen as distinct entities providing separate services. This model limits the power of the national government. (page 81)

Question 13

Commerce clause powers

Answer 13

The powers of Congress to regulate the economy granted in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. (page 82)

Question 14

Cooperative federalism

Answer 14

A form of federalism in which national and state governments work together to provide services efficiently. This form emerged in the late 1930s, representing a profound shift toward less concrete boundaries of responsibility in national - state relations. (page 84)

Question 15

Picket fence federalism

Answer 15

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. (page 84)

Question 16

Fiscal federalism

Answer 16

A form of federalism in which federal funds are allocated to the lower levels of government through transfer payments or grants. (page 86)

Question 17

Categorical grants

Answer 17

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. (page 86)

Question 18

Block grants

Answer 18

Federal aid provided to a state government to be spent within a certain policy area, but the state can decide how to spend the money within that area. (page 86)

Question 19

General revenue sharing (GRS)

Answer 19

A type of grant used in the 1970s and 1980s in which the federal government provided state governments with funds to be spent at each state’s discretion. These grants gave states more control over programs. (page 86)

Question 20

Unfunded mandates

Answer 20

Federal laws that require the states to do certain things but do not provide state governments with funding to implement these policies. (page 89)

Question 21

Coercive federalism

Answer 21

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). (page 90)

Question 22

Federal preemptions

Answer 22

Impositions of national priorities on the states through national legislation that is based on the Constitution’s supremacy clause. (page 91)

Question 23

Competitive federalism

Answer 23

A form of federalism in which states compete to attract businesses and jobs through the policies they adopt. (page 93)

Question 24

Remedial legislation

Answer 24

National laws that address discriminatory state laws. Authority for such legislation comes from Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. (page 96)

Question 25

States’ sovereign immunity

Answer 25

Based on the Eleventh Amendment, immunity that prevents state governments from being sued by private parties in federal court unless the state consents to the suit. (page 96)