| Term | Definition |
| Federalism | a way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people |
| Unitary Governments | A way of organizing a nation so that all power resides in the central government |
| Intergovernmental relations | the entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments. |
| Supremacy Clause | Article VI of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws |
| Tenth Amendment | 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 to the people |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | An 1819 Supreme Court decision that established the supremacy of the national government over state governments |
| Enumerated Powers | Powers of the federal government that are specifically addressed in the Constitution |
| Implied Powers | Powers of the federal government that go beyond those enumerated in the Constitution |
| Elastic Cause | authorizes Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers |
| Gibbons v. Ogden | A landmark case decided in 1824 in which the Supreme Court giving Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, encompassing virtually every form of commercial activity |
| Full Faith and Credit | A clause in Article IV, Section I, of the Constitution requiring each state to recognize the official documents and civil judgments rendered by the courts of other states. |
| Extradition | a legal process where by an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one state to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed. |
| Privileges and Immunities | A clause in Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution according citizens of each state most of the privileges of citizens of other states |
| Dual Federalism | A system of government in which both the states and the national government remains supreme within their own spheres |
| Cooperative Federalism | A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government |
| Fiscal Federalism | The pattern of spending , taxing, and providing grants in the federal system |
| Categorical Grants | Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories", of state and local spending |
| Project Grants | Federal categorical grants given for specific purposes and awarded on the basis of the merits of applications |
| Formula Grants | Federal categorical grants distributed according to a formula |
| Block Grants | Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs |