III - American Federalism

Question 1

Bill of attainder

Answer 1

Legislative action declaring someone guilty without a trial

Prohibited under Constitution

Question 2

Block grant

Answer 2

Type of grant that comes with less stringent federal administrative conditions & provide recipients more latitude over how to spend grant funds

Question 3

Categorical grant

Answer 3

Federal transfer formulated to limit recipients’ discretion in use of funds & subject them to strict adminstrative critertia

Question 4

Concurrent powers

Answer 4

Shared state & federal powers that range from taxing, borrowing, and making and enforcing laws to establishing court systems

Question 5

Cooperative federalism

Answer 5

Style of federalism in which both levels of gov’t coordinate their actions to solve national problems, leading to blending of layers as in a marble cake

Question 6

Creeping categorization

Answer 6

Process in which the national gov’t attaches new administrative requirements to block grants or supplants them with new categorical grants

Question 7

Devolution

Answer 7

Process in which powers from the central gov’t in a unitary system are delegated to subnational units

Question 8

Dual federalism

Answer 8

Style of federalism in which the states and national gov’t exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction, creating a layer- cake view of federalism

Question 9

Elastic clause

Answer 9

Last clause of Article I, Section 8, which enables national gov’t “to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying” out all its constitutional responsibilities

Question 10

Ex post facto law

Answer 10

Law that criminalizes an act retroactively; prohibited under the Constitution

Question 11

Federalism

Answer 11

Institutional arrangement that creates two relatively autonomous levels of gov’t, each possessing the capacity to act directly on the people with authority granted by national constitution

Question 12

Full faith & credit clause

Answer 12

Found in Article IV, Section 1, of Constitution, this clause requires states to accept court decisions, public acts, and contracts of other states
Also referred to as comity provision

Question 13

General revenue sharing

Answer 13

Type of federal grant that places minimal restrictions on how state & local gov’ts spend the money

Question 14

immigration federalism

Answer 14

Gradual movement of states into immigration policy domain traditionally handled by federal ov’t

Question 15

New federalism

Answer 15

Style of federalism premised on the idea that decentralization of policies enhances administrative efficiency, reduced overall public spending, and improves outcomes

Question 16

Nullification

Answer 16

Doctrine promoted by John Calhoun of South Carolina in the 1830s, asserting that if a state deems a federal law unconstitutional, it can nullify it within its borders

Question 17

Privileges & immunities clause

Answer 17

Found in Article IV, Section 2, of Constitution, this clause prohibits states from discriminating against out-of-states by denying such guarantees as access to courts, legal protection, and property and travel rights

Question 18

Race-to-the-bottom

Answer 18

Dynamic in which states compete to attract business by lowering taxes and regulations, often to workers’ detriment

Question 19

Unfunded mandates

Answer 19

Federal laws & regulations that impose obligations on state & local gov’t without fully compensating them for costs of implementation

Question 20

Unitary system

Answer 20

Centralized system of gov’t in which subnational gov’t is dependent on central gov’t, where substantial authority is concentrated

Question 21

Venue shopping

Answer 21

Strategy in which interest groups select level and branch of gov’t they calculate will be most receptive to their policy goals

Question 22

Writ of habeas corpus

Answer 22

Petition that enables someone in custody to petition a judge to determine whether that person’s detention is legal