III - American Federalism Flashcards
Bill of attainder
Legislative action declaring someone guilty without a trial
Prohibited under Constitution
Block grant
Type of grant that comes with less stringent federal administrative conditions & provide recipients more latitude over how to spend grant funds
Categorical grant
Federal transfer formulated to limit recipients’ discretion in use of funds & subject them to strict adminstrative critertia
Concurrent powers
Shared state & federal powers that range from taxing, borrowing, and making and enforcing laws to establishing court systems
Cooperative federalism
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
Creeping categorization
Process in which the national gov’t attaches new administrative requirements to block grants or supplants them with new categorical grants
Devolution
Process in which powers from the central gov’t in a unitary system are delegated to subnational units
Dual federalism
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
Elastic clause
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
Ex post facto law
Law that criminalizes an act retroactively; prohibited under the Constitution
Federalism
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
Full faith & credit clause
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
General revenue sharing
Type of federal grant that places minimal restrictions on how state & local gov’ts spend the money
immigration federalism
Gradual movement of states into immigration policy domain traditionally handled by federal ov’t
New federalism
Style of federalism premised on the idea that decentralization of policies enhances administrative efficiency, reduced overall public spending, and improves outcomes
Nullification
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
Privileges & immunities clause
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
Race-to-the-bottom
Dynamic in which states compete to attract business by lowering taxes and regulations, often to workers’ detriment
Unfunded mandates
Federal laws & regulations that impose obligations on state & local gov’t without fully compensating them for costs of implementation
Unitary system
Centralized system of gov’t in which subnational gov’t is dependent on central gov’t, where substantial authority is concentrated
Venue shopping
Strategy in which interest groups select level and branch of gov’t they calculate will be most receptive to their policy goals
Writ of habeas corpus
Petition that enables someone in custody to petition a judge to determine whether that person’s detention is legal
