Federalism Flashcards
CONFEDERAL SYSTEM
A system of government consisting of a league of independent states, each have essentially sovereign powers. The central government created by such a league has only limited powers over the states.
UNITARY SYSTEM
A centralized governmental system in which local or subdivisional governments exercise only those powers given to them by the central government.
ENUMERATED POWERS
Powers specifically granted to the national government by the constitution. The first seventeen clauses of Article 1, Section 8, specify most of the enumerated powers of Congress.
ELASTIC CLAUSE, OR NECESSARY AND PROPER CLAUSE
The clause in Article 1, Section 8, that grants Congress the power to do whatever is necessary to execute its specifically delegated powers.
POLICE POWERS
The authority to legislate for the protection of the health, morals, safety, and welfare of the people. In the United States, most police power is a reserved power of the states.
CONCURRENT POWERS
Powers held jointly by the the national and state governments.
SUPREMACY CLAUSE
The constitutional provision that makes the Constitution and federal laws superior to all conflicting state and local laws.
INTERSTATE COMPACT
An agreement between two or more states. Agreements on minor matters are made within congressional consent, but any compact that tends to increase the power of the contracting states relative to the national government generally requires the consent of Congress. Such compacts serve as a means by which states can solve regional problems.
COMMERCE CLAUSE
The section of the Constitution in which Congress is given the power to regulate trade among the states and with foreign countries.
INJUNCTION
An order issued by a court to compel or restrain the performance of an act by an individual or entity.
NULLIFICATION
The act of nullifying, or rendering void. Prior to the Civil War, southern supporters of states’ rights claimed that a state had the right to declare a national law to be null and void and therefore not binding on its citizens, on the assumption that ultimate sovereign authority rested with the several states.
SECESSION
The act of formally withdrawing from membership in an alliance; the withdrawal of state from the federal Union.
DUAL FEDERALISM
A system in government in which the states and the national government each remain supreme within their own spheres. The doctrine looks on nation and state as coequal sovereign powers. It holds that acts of states within their reserved powers are legitimate limitations on the powers of the national government.
COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM
The theory that the states and the national government should cooperate in solving problems.
PICKET-FENCE FEDERALISM
A model of federalism in which specific programs and policies (depicted as vertical pickets in a picket fence) involve all levels of government- national, state, and local (depicted by the horizontal boards in a picket fence).
CATEGORICAL GRANTS-IN-AID
Federal grants-in-aid to states or local governments that are for very specific programs or projects.
MATCHING FUNDS
For many categorical grant programs, money that the state must provide to “match” the federal funds. Some programs require the state to raise only 10 percent of the funds, whereas others approach an even share.
Equalization
A method for adjusting the amount of money that a state must provide to receive federal funds. The formula used takes into account the wealth of the state or its ability to tax its citizens.
NEW FEDERALISM
A plan both to limit the national government’s power to regulate and to restore power to state governments. Essentially, the new federalism is designed to give the states greater ability to decide for themselves how government revenues should be spent.
BLOCK GRANTS
Federal programs that provide funds to state and local governments for general functional areas, such as criminal justice or mental-health programs.
FEDERAL MANDATE
A requirement in federal legislation that forces states and municipalities to comply with certain rules.
