Federalism Flashcards
what is federalism
Division of government power between national (federal) government and regional (state) governments. (Used in the USA, Canada, India)
what is unitary government
National government that has all power (Most countries in the world are unitary)
What are confederacies or confederations
States that have all power.
What are
the advantages and disadvantages of federalism?
Advantages :
* Controversial issues can be decided by states by
majority of people of each state
* States can experiment with new policies (states as
“laboratories of democracy”)
* When national government is in gridlock or
controlled by other party, states can act or “resist”
Disadvantages:
50 different state laws in one national economy
* Southern states had legal racial segregation
* States compete against each other for businesses
(“race to the bottom”)
* Both states and feds can avoid responsibility by
blaming each other
What is the current situation concerning laws about
guns, the death penalty and marijuana?
For guns: The situation is about the right to carry or non-right to carry
For the death penalty: The situation is about what option of the death penalty states want to have aside from lethal injection (ex. electric chair, gas chamber), or no death penalty at all.
For Marijuana: The situation is about whether or not states want to legalize both, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, or have one or the other, or ban marijuana all together.
How are disputes between the federal government and the states
decided?
by US Supreme Court
Who is “the umpire of federalism”?
Supreme Court
Which constitutional powers does the federal government
use for regulating individuals and businesses?
The Commerce Clause
What does the federal government use its taxing and spending powers for?
The federal government governs individual
citizens using its commerce and taxing and
spending powers
What
is preemption?
A legal doctrine that allows a higher level of government to limit or even eliminate the power of a lower level of government to regulate a specific issue.
How does the federal government use its spending power to get the states to do what it
wants?
The federal government uses grants
to get the states to do what it wants
What are categorical and block grants?
Categorical grants: Money for specific items (school lunches)
Block: Money for general area (education)
Approximately how much money does the federal
government give to the 50 states each year?
$600 billion each year
What are the top grants for?
Medicaid and Child Health Insurance
What can the federal government
attach to its grants?
conditions (“strings”) to
grants and threaten to withdraw money
if states don’t do what feds want
