Chapter 4 Vocab Flashcards
Block grants
federal financial aid that permits state and local officials to decide how the money will be spent within a broad, general area
Categorical grants
federal financial aid to states and localities that can be used only for designated projects
Confederacy
a governmental system in which sovereignty is vested entirely in subnational (state) governments
Cooperative federalism
the national, state and local governments working together to solve problems
Devolution
transfering authority from the national government to the state and local governments
Dual federalism
the idea that a precise separation of national power and state power is both possible and desirable
Enumerated powers
those powers granted to a government that are expressly stated in a constitution
Federalism
a governmental system in which authority is divided between two sovereign levels of government - national (federal) and subnational (states)
Fiscal federalism
the expenditure of federal funds on programs run in part through states and localities, a means by which the federal government influences state and local governments
Implied powers
Governmental power that is not expressly authorized by a constitution but is required to fullfil a government’s enumerated powers
Nationalization
Transferring authority from the states to the national government
“Necessary and proper” (elastic) clause
The authority granted Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper” (implied powers) for the implementation of its enumerated powers
Reserved powers
the powers granted to the states under the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
Supremacy clause
Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, which makes national law supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits
Unitary system
A governmental system in which the national government alone has sovereign (ultimate) authority
