Deck 3: Federalism and American Political Development

Question 1

Powers that belong to all sovereign nations, allowing their executives to take whatever measures necessary to defend a nation or protect its interests.

A) Implied Powers
B) Natural Rights
C) Inherent powers
D) None of the above.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

S. v. E.C. Knight

A) Limited Presidential power over state laws.
B) Limited Congress's regulation of interstate commerce to the transportation of goods across state lines.
C) Invalidated the claim that states could withdraw from the Union.
D) Enforced the right of the national government to create unfunded mandates.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What did the Supreme Court declare in the case of Dred Scot v. Sanford (1857)?

A) It said blacks could not become U.S. citizens.
B) It said blacks were not residents.
C) It said slaves were not citizens, but that freed slaves could become citizens.
D) It said blacks were not constitutionally protected property.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

During the time of "Dual Federalism," which court was associated with national federalism and which with state federalism?

A) The Taney court with national federalism and the Marshall court with state federalism
B) The Taney court with state federalism and the Marshall court with national federalism
C) The Rehnquist court with state federalism and the Warren court with national federalism
D) None of the above

Question 5

Does the Constitution guarantee that the federal government has positive obligations to the states?

A) No. Insofar as the federal government has positive obligations to the states, these developed over time and are not a part of the Constitution.
B) Yes. The federal government has constitutional responsibilities toward the states, such as the Tenth Amendment's reserved powers clause.
C) Yes. The federal government has constitutional responsibilities toward the states, such as Article IV's guarantee that the states' republican governments will be protected from invasion and domestic violence.
D) Both of the last two options

Question 6

Has our system always been federally structured, and, if not, what was it originally?

A) Yes
B) No. It was originally a unitary system.
C) No. It was originally a confederal system.
D) None of the above

Question 7

In addition to the globalization of commerce, what are other recent developments that have pushed toward more not less national authority?

A) There are none. Other factors are actually pushing toward more and more state autonomy
B) Activist Supreme Court justices who are increasingly unwilling to follow the original intent of the Founding Fathers
C) Global warming and international terrorism
D) None of the above

Question 8

From the Let's Compare section, can we infer that there is some basic pattern among federalized countries in the world today?

A) Yes. Federalism is selected out of social necessity as given by the high level of ethno-religious diversity within all countries with federal systems.
B) No. Countries with federal systems can be democratic or monarchical as well as extremely wealthy or extremely poor.
C) No. Countries with federal systems vary widely in their ethnic and religious diversity, geographical size, and population.
D) Yes. Federalism is selected for socio-economic reasons by relatively rich countries that are large in geographic size as well as population.

Question 9

In the Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Lopez (1995), what federalism issue was at stake?

A) The ability of the Congress to regulate interstate commerce as a police power regarding handgun proximity to schools
B) The ability of the Congress to regulate interstate commerce as a police power regarding transport of arms across state boundaries
C) The ability of the Congress to regulate interstate commerce as a police power regarding the imposition of national mandates on racial equality in hiring and promotion procedures within local law enforcement departments
D) The ability of the President to utilize executive orders to impose/enforce affirmative action dictates

Question 10

Did Bill Clinton continue the policies of devolution started by Ronald Reagan even though he was a Democrat?

Question 11

What was one way in which Reagan "turned off the tap" regarding the growth in federal grants-in-aid and national mandates that had occurred under his immediate predecessors?

A) Increasing mandates but decreasing grants-in-aid
B) Cutting federal taxes
C) Calling for states and localities to increase their tax bases

Question 12

What was increased usage of categorical grants and national mandates referred to derisively as?

A) Creative federalism
B) Socialist federalism
C) Coercive federalism
D) Confederalism

Question 13

What are block grants?

A) Federal funds made available to states and communities with wide discretion for how the money is spent in a broad substantive area of policy
B) The same thing as a categorical grant
C) The same thing as general revenue sharing
D) Federal funds made available to states and communities with narrow discretion for how the money is spent in a limited substantive area of policy

Question 14

Does general revenue sharing still exist?

Question 15

What is a categorical grant?

A) A program for economic development only
B) Federal funds made available to states and communities in which they have discretion over how the money is spent within a broad substantive area covered by the block grant
C) A program for providing funds to states and communities by the federal government for a specific purpose and usually requiring a distinct application, implementation, and reporting procedure
D) The same thing as a block grant

Question 16

What was the significance of the U.S. v. E.C. Knight (1895) decision for the development of American federalism?

A) It expanded Congress' ability to regulate interstate commerce by including manufacturing and production as categories covered.
B) It limited Congress's ability to regulate interstate commerce by excluding manufacturing and production as categories covered.
C) It established the principle of "separate but equal" in regards to the national government's ability to intervene in state segregation issues.
D) It claimed that the executive could not impose command economic structures and procedures on the American national economy even in the face of a global political or economic crisis.

Question 17

From the Pro and Con section, what did the Articles of Confederation have to say about the locus of sovereignty?

A) Article II guaranteed state sovereignty within the confederation.
B) Article II guaranteed national sovereignty within the federation.
C) Article III guarantees state sovereignty within the confederation.
D) The Articles said nothing about this issue.

Question 18

What is the doctrine of nullification?

A) The claim that states have the right to nullify national acts that they believe to be beyond national constitutional authority
B) The claim that states do not have the right to nullify national acts that they believe to be beyond national constitutional authority
C) The claim that local governments have the right to nullify state acts that they believe to be beyond state constitutional authority
D) The claim that state governments have the right to nullify local acts that they believe to be beyond the local constitutional authority

Question 19

What is informal nullification?

A) When a state claims to have the right to nullify national acts that it believes to be beyond national constitutional authority
B) The claim that states do not have the right to nullify national acts that they believe to be beyond national constitutional authority
C) When local governments claim to have the right to nullify state acts that they believe to be beyond state constitutional authority
D) When states pass laws that are contrary to federal laws on the same matter in an attempt to circumvent and thus indirectly nullify the federal laws

Question 20

What is secession?

A) The claim that states have the right to withdraw from the Union
B) The claim that states do not have the right to withdraw from the Union
C) The claim that states can join in confederation with other countries
D) The claim that states can dissolve into component sub-states

Question 21

Is the United States today a federal, confederal, or unitary government?

A) Federal
B) Confederal
C) Unitary
D) None of the above

Question 22

What were most of the empires of the ancient world and monarchies of Europe regarding the division of power between levels of government?

A) Federal
B) Confederal
C) Unitary
D) None of the above

Question 23

What was the original meaning of the word federalism?

A) That government rested on the idea of treaty, compact, or covenant
B) That government rested on the notion of a division of powers between levels
C) That government rested on the notion of a separation of powers
D) All of the above

Question 24

What is an example of a concurrent power?

A) To maintain local governments
B) To tax
C) To conduct war against foreign countries
D) Any inherent power

Question 25

What device has allowed executives to take actions in the name of national interests?

A) Implied powers
B) Concurrent powers
C) Inherent powers
D) Expressed powers

Question 26

What are the three categories of reserved powers regarding state governments?

A) Police power, fire alarm power, and ambulance power
B) Police power, provision of services to citizens, and the creation/control of local governments
C) Security, administration, and economics
D) All of the above

Question 27

Where did the reserved powers find their constitutional mandate?

A) In the Eighth Amendment
B) In Article IV
C) In the Tenth Amendment
D) In Article V

Question 28

What power was expanded by the Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) decision?

A) The power of the executive to arbitrate between labor and management disputes
B) The power of the Congress to regulate all stages of interstate commerce due to the notion of "continuous journey"
C) The power of the Supreme Court and other federal appellate courts to invoke judicial review
D) The power of the Congress to regulate within state commerce completely regardless of whether the commerce crosses state boundaries

Question 29

What is the concurrent majority according to John Calhoun?

A) That the South should be hegemonic in American politics
B) That the North should be hegemonic in American politics
C) That regions may reject national legislation that is deemed harmful to that region
D) That regions may NOT reject national legislation that is deemed harmful to the region

Question 30

What does extradition mean?

A) Persons accused of a crime in one state fleeing into another state shall NOT be returned to the state in which the crime was committed
B) Persons accused of a crime in one state fleeing into another state shall be returned to the state in which the crime was committed
C) Persons accused of a crime in one country fleeing into another country shall NOT be returned to the country in which the crime was committed
D) None of the above

Question 31

Which court case dealt specifically with the guaranteeing of privileges and immunities for residents from one state by the government of another state?

A) Paul v. Virginia (1869)
B) Paul v. John (1969)
C) Joe v. Virginia (1870)
D) The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)

Question 32

Which of the following are two constitutional provisions that deal with interstate relations?

A) The Full Faith and Credit Clause and the Non-privileges and Immunities Clause
B) The concept of extradition and the Little Faith and Credit Clause
C) The Full Faith and Credit Clause and the Privileges and Immunities Clause
D) None of the above

Question 33

Which of the following are two powers denied to the states?

A) The power to tax and the power to engage in alliances with other countries
B) The power to keep armies and navies and the power to make treaties
C) The military power and economic power
D) Foreign policy and domestic policy powers

Question 34

Which one of the following assertions best reflects the attitudes of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson regarding the question of how the states relate to the federal government?

A) Only the opinions of the founding generation can properly answer this question.
B) "Trust busting" of private sector actors through federal oversight is not a proper answer to this question.
C) Political and economic development forces us to consider new answers to this question.
D) Neither president encouraged a more dynamic view of federalism.

Question 35

Approximately how many governments exist within the federal system of the United States?

A) 51 governments
B) More than 700 governments
C) More than 8,000 governments
D) More than 90,000 governments

Question 36

The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Obamacare was argued on the basis of _____.

A) states' rights only
B) national uniformity only
C) both states' rights and national uniformity
D) None of the above

Question 37

How many times in the last half-century have the federal courts upheld a formal nullification claim by the states?

A) 1 time
B) 2 times
C) 3 times
D) None of the above, since the courts have never upheld the formal nullification doctrine of the states

Question 38

In the case of Printz v. U.S. (1997), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the doctrine of ___.

A) federal income tax
B) federal supremacy
C) formal nullification
D) regulation of interstate commerce

Question 39

With regard to the formation of the United States, a "compact" is a formal agreement to promote cooperation and coordination ___.

A) between the federal government and the state governments
B) among member states
C) between the United States and other sovereign nations
D) among citizens of each state

Question 40

Sanctuary cities are generally understood to be local governments that declare they will not cooperate in the enforcement of federal _______laws

A) discrimination
B) firearm
C) marijuana
D) immigration

Question 41

Today, formal nullification involves ___.

A) a state government declaring an act of Congress void and the federal courts upholding that claim under the "reserved rights" of the states of the Tenth Amendment
B) a federal court declaring an act of a state government void under authority of the "supremacy clause" of Article VI
C) a state court declaring an act of Congress void and the U.S. Supreme Court upholding that claim under the authority of "appellate jurisdiction" of Article III
D) None of the above, since nullification ended with the Civil War

Question 42

The Supreme Court has ruled that attempts by the federal government to compel states to enforce federal laws violate the _______Amendment.

A) Seventh
B) Eighth
C) Ninth
D) Tenth

Question 43

Which one of the following conflicts reflected a quarrel between proponents of nation-centered federalism and state-centered federalism?

A) French and Indian War
B) Revolutionary War
C) War of 1812
D) Civil War

Question 44

The opinion of the court in Dred Scott v. Sandford favored ___.

A) Nation-centered federalism
B) State-centered federalism
C) Both of the above
D) None of the above

Question 45

During the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, President Trump perceived the outbreak primarily as a threat to _______security.

A) economic
B) national
C) health
D) public

Question 46

Reserved powers are those that _______and ___.

A) allow sovereign states to maintain a military
B) the power to tax
C) are supported by the 10th Amendment
D) those powers reserved to the states or to the people

Question 47

Just five days after his inauguration, Donald Trump signed an executive order banning _______and threatening punishment in the form of loss of _______to those defying the order.

A) federal grant money
B) sanctuary cities
C) foreign aid
D) airline passengers from Muslim countries

Question 48

No issue more clearly defined the 2016 Republican presidential nomination process than _______and no candidate spoke about it more often or more forcefully than ___.

A) Ted Cruz
B) Donald Trump
C) repeal of Obamacare
D) illegal immigration

Question 49

In the Supreme Court decision in Printz v. U.S. (1997), Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that states are _______entities according to the ___.

A) independent and autonomous
B) Tenth Amendment
C) dependent and circumscribed
D) Supremacy Clause of Article VI

Question 50

The Marshal Court favored ___, while the Taney court favored ___.

A) anti-federalism
B) state-centered federalism
C) pro-federalism
D) nation-centered federalism

Question 51

The supremacy clause declares that the national government is supreme over the state constitutions and laws within its area of legitimate authority.

Question 52

Categorical grants allow the states to spend money on any issue they categorize as a priority.

Question 53

Special revenue sharing is different from general revenue sharing in that both heavily restricted how federal funds could be spent.

Question 54

Regardless of what type of grant it is, all are referred to collectively as block grants.

Question 55

While his predecessor Barack Obama sent mixed signals about enforcing federal anti-marijuana laws, Donald Trump has been resolute about federal authorities cracking done on violators.

Question 56

Over the course of American history, social issues such as religious toleration, slavery, and, most recently, the decision by some states to permit marijuana use, have strained reciprocity and cooperation between the states.

Question 57

Over the course of the last century, the weight and focus of government in the United States shifted from the state and local levels to the national level.

Question 58

Democratic opponents of President Trump's executive orders have used the same legal arguments that Republicans used against President Obama's executive orders.

Question 59

The 2016 national elections brought Republican control of the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress such that the Republicans finally repealed Obamacare as they had promised.

Question 60

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in mid spring 2020, President Trump set aside his concern for maintaining the well-being of the economy and instead focused his attention on national efforts to coordinate state responses to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Question 61

Which do you think is better, unitary or federal government?

Question 62

Compare and contrast implied and enumerated powers. Give an example of each.

Question 63

What were the reasons behind the transition from dual federalism to cooperative federalism?

Question 64

What are the potential drawbacks of States' Rights?

Question 65

What is the relationship between federal and state government expenditures across the last century?

Question 66

Imagine you're a state governor combating a budget shortfall in your state. Which type of federal grant would you prefer and why?

Question 67

Explain the reasons behind the decision in U.S. v. Morrison.

Question 68

Make a case for one type of federalism over another and support your argument with evidence garnered from the text.

Question 69

How have mandates and grants-in-aid been employed to push the federal government's agenda on the states?

Question 70

Contrast layer cake v. marble cake federalism.

Question 71

Discuss the role played by interstate commerce regulation in national and state federalism.

Question 72

What historical developments were associated with the move from a dual federal system to a cooperative federal system?

Question 73

Do you believe that the growth in the number of governments within the federal system is directly caused by the growth in the population of the country? Why or why not?

Question 74

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of federalism.

Question 75

Did the decisions of the Marshall court tend to favor nation-centered federalism or state-centered federalism? Defend your answer.

Question 76

Explain how the concept of federalism has strained reciprocity and cooperation between the states with regard to such social issues as religious toleration, slavery, and, most recently, the decision by some states to permit marijuana use.

Question 77

Discuss how federalism was directly implicated in efforts by Donald Trump to ban sanctuary cities.

Question 78

Does the maintenance or termination of U.S. participation in international agreements, such as NAFTA and climate change accords, challenge the structure of American federalism? Why or why not?

Question 79

Discuss the conflicting dynamics of federalism during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Did they tend to reflect nation-centered federalism or state centered federalism? Defend your response.

Question 80

Discuss the struggle between "Preemption" and "Devolution" in modern federalism. To what extent did policies of the Trump administration favor one over the other?