US Government Chapter 3

two constitutionally recognized levels of government

ultimate governing authority, with no legal superior

The existence of two governments, each with ultimate authority over different matters

The central government is sovereign - it’s the ultimate governing authority, with no legal superior.

several independent sovereign governments (such as the thirteen state governments in the American case) agree to cooperate on specified matters while each retains ultimate authority over all over governmental matters within its borders.

the collaborative efforts of two or more levels of government working to serve the public

inherent governing functions that both the national and state governments hold jointly and each can use them at the same time

Article 1 of the Constitution enumerates the matters over which congress holds the authority to make laws, including interstate and foreign commerce, the monetary system, general welfare, and national defense.

powers that are not explicitly described but may be interpreted to be necessary to fulfill the enumerated powers

states that Congress has the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers.

(Article VI of the Constitution) This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all the treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land.

Unless the Supreme Court finds a national law to be outside of the enumerated or implied powers, that law is constitutional

Tenth amendment asserts that 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.

The states’ reserved powers to protect the health, safety, lives, and property of their citizens

Congress established a national bank and Maryland tried to tax a branch of that bank within its borders believing they had the right to do so. Maryland said Congress did not have the constitutional authority to establish a national bank saying it was not an enumerated power. The national gov’t said the federal authority to establish a national bank was implied and that Maryland’s levying taxes on it impinged on the national gov’ts ability to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.

The state to state obligations and relationships they mandates. Article IV sets forth the obligations that the states have to each other.

State gov’ts have the right to forge agreements with other states

The legal process of sending individuals back to a state that accuses them of having committed a crime and from which they have fled.

The constitution asserts that each state must guarantee the same privileges and immunities to all US citizens - citizens from other states who visit or move into the state - that it provides its own citizens.

Article IV, Section 1 asserts that each state must recognize as legally binding the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.

The practice whereby state judges base decisions regarding citizens’ legal rights and liberties on their state constitutions when these laws guarantee more than the minimum rights or liberties enumerated in the US Constitution.

The national government takes care of its enumerated powers and the states independently take care of their reserved powers.

transfers of money from one level of government to another

collaborative, intergovernmental efforts to address domestic matters reserved to the states

The national gov’t imposed its own policy preferences on state and local gov’ts. Directives in national legislation, including grant-in-aid programs with ever increasing conditions or strings attached to the money, force state and local governments to implement a particular national policy.

the return of policy responsibilities to state and local governments

Republicans and Democrats broadly support devolution, but they debate which elements of the policy making process should be devolved: policy creation, financing, and/or implementation. The legislation and court decisions that result from these debates make for a complicated coexistence of dual federalism, cooperative federalism, and centralized federalism.

most common type of grant-in-aid - a grant of money for narrow purpose, as defined by the national government. The legislation that creates such a grant includes a formula determining how much money is available to each grant recipient.

covers a narrow purpose, but unlike the formula grant, a project grant does not include a formula specifying how much money a recipient will receive. Those interested in receiving such a grant must compete for it by writing a proposal detailing what program they wish to implement and what level of funding they need. Generally offers much less funding and has strings attached.

The use of grant money is less narrowly defined by the national gov’t. Gives the recipient gov’t more discrimination to determine what program it will be used for within a broad policy area such as assistance to economically needy families with children.

State and local gov’ts have increasingly lobbied national lawmakers during policy-making processes that create and reauthorize grants to limit the grant conditions - or at least to influence them to the states’ advantage. Lobbyists for an individual state work to ensure that the conditions, including the grants’ formulas, benefit that state.

are clauses in national laws that direct state and local governments to do something specified by the national government. Most mandates relate to ensuring citizens’ civil rights and civil liberties.

that a national policy supersedes a state of local policy because it deals with an enumerated or implied national power. People must obey and states must enforce the national law even if the state or local government has its own law on the matter.