American Government: Chapter 3 Vocab
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21 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Unitary System | System of government where the local and regional governments derive all authority from a strong national government |
| Tenth Amendment | The final part of the Bill of Rights that defines the basic principle of American federalism in stating. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or not to the people." |
| Reserve (or police) powers | Powers reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment that lie at the foundation of a state's right to legislate for the public health and welfare of its citizens |
| Concurrent Powers | Authority possessed by both the state and national governments that may be exercised concurrently as long as that power is not exclusively within the scope of national power or in conflict with national law |
| Bill of Attainder | A law declaring an act illegal without a judicial trial |
| Ex Post Facto Law | Law that makes an act punishable as a crime even if the action was at the time it was committed |
| Priviledges and Immunities Clause | Part of Article IV of the Constitution guaranteeing that the citizens of each state are afforded the same rights as citizens of all other states |
| Extradition Clause | Part of Article IV of the Constitution that requires states to extradite, or return, criminals to states where the have been convicted or are to stand trial |
| Interstate Compacts | Contracts between states that carry the force of law; generally now used as a tool to address multistate policy concerns |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | The Supreme Court upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax the federal bank using the Constitution's supremacy clause. The Court's board interpretation of the necessary and proper clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers |
| Gibbons v. Odgen | The Supreme Court upheld broad congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. The Court's broad interpretation of the Constitution's commerce clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers |
| Dual Federalism | The belief that having separate and equally powerful levels of government is the best arrangement |
| Sixteenth Amendment | Authorized Congress to enact a national income tax |
| Seventeenth Amendment | Made senators directly elected by the people; removed their selection from state legislature |
| Cooperative Federalism | The interwined relationship between the national, state and local governments that began with the New Deal |
| Categorical Grant | Grants that allocated federal funds to states for a specific purpose |
| New Federalism | Federal-State relationship proposed by Reagan administration during the 1980s; hallmark is returning administrative powers to the state governments |
| Block Grant | Broad grant with few strings attached; given to states by the federal government for general categories of activity, such as secondary education of health services |
| Unfunded Mandates | National laws that direct state or local governments to comply with federal rules or regulations (such as clean air or water standards) but contain little or no federal funding to defray the cost of meeting these requirements |
| Preemption | A concept derived from the Constitution's supremacy clause that allows the national government to override or preempt state or local actions in certain areas |
| Sovereign Immunity | The right of a state to be free from a lawsuit unless it gives permission to the suit. Under the Eleventh Amendment, all states are considered sovereign |
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