Federalism Flashcards
Unitary sys of government v. confederation system of government
Unitary- centralized all power
Confederation- decentralizes all power
Advocated of a strong federal system believe…
State and local governments do not have the sophistication to deal with the major problems facing the country
Loosest confederation that exists in the international scene
United Nations
The historical foundation of federalism
Federalist Papers
Early Supreme Court decisions
Powers shared by federal and state gifts with dual federalism
- To tax
- To est. courts
- Est. laws for the general welfare
Est. By 10th Amendment
Layer ale federalism
Extension of dual federalism developed after Civil War
National government exercising power independently form state governments
Marble cake federalism
Extension of federalism after the New Deal
Federal government became more intrusive in what had typically been the domain for state governments
Lasted until the Great Society
Resulted in greater growth of federal government
Creative federal during the Great society increased…
The marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations
Ex. Medicare, Medicaid, War on Povert
Creative approach to federalism:
- Sharing costs between the national and state governments for programs that would typically fall under state jurisdiction
- Guidelines and rules set down by the federal government in order for states to reap benefits of federally funded programs
- Providing for dual administration of programs (ex. Medicaid)
Competitive federalism
Under Nixon, Reagan, and Bush
Reversed marble cake nature
Est. A “new federalism” where the states were given more responsibility
Aimed to decentralize many Great Society programs
Three examples of competitive federalism
- Federal orders: the Equal Opportunity Act that mandated compliance by states with threat of criminal or civil penalty
- Restrictions on federal programs if states didn’t meet criteria for the programs
- Crossover requirements: if state is going to get federal money, it must agree to give something in return
Fiscal federalism
Through different grant programs, slices up the marble cake into many different pieces
Makes it even more difficult to differentiate the functions of levels of the government
Three major programs areas of fiscal federalism
- Categorical grants
- Block grants
- Revenue sharing
Categorical grant
Federal aid that meets the criteria of a specific category and has specific criteria attached to it
Two types:
1. Project grants: for competitive applications
2. Formula grants: based on specific formulas developed by Congress
Block grants
Form of federal aid with few strings attached
States decide how to spend money