Deck 2: Federalism and the States

Question 1

Financial power moved from the states to the national government by virtue of

A)McCulloch v.Maryland (1819), which gave the federal government the power to establish a bank.
B)Baker v.Carr (1962), which established the Federal Reserve System.
C)Brown v.Rhode Island (1820), which allowed the United States to establish a national bank modeled after the Bank of England.
D)the Sixteenth Amendment, which gave Congress power to tax personal and corporate incomes.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

President Nixon's goal for the model of new federalism was

A)merely to maintain the status quo.
B)to give greater power to the federal government.
C)to attack the nation's most serious problems through grants-in-aid.
D)a reaction to the centralizing effects of the Great Society programs.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The practical devices placed in the U.S.Constitution to control factions included all of the following except

A)a system of representative government.
B)the division of government into three branches, which served as a system of checks and balances.
C)a federal system where power was dispersed within and among the federal government and the states.
D)a national bank known as the Federal Reserve System, which would control the nation's money and therefore keep factions from ever gaining complete control over the economy.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

McCulloch v.Maryland (1819)enhanced the power of the national government by establishing

A)that the federal government could not establish a national bank.
B)Maryland's right to tax the national bank located in that state.
C)that Congress had the right to lend money through the Second National Bank of the United States.
D)that the Constitution contained implied as well as enumerated powers.

Question 5

In a unitary system of government,

A)power is divided among all levels of government.
B)the central government is weak and the subgovernments are powerful.
C)power is dispersed to the subgovernments in the constitution.
D)subgovernments exercise only those powers granted by the central government.

Question 6

A number of Supreme Court cases, culminating in Garcia v.San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985), have

A)reinforced state-centered federalism after an initial retreat from that stance.
B)cautioned the Congress against involvement in labor standards legislation.
C)reversed earlier rulings such as National League of Cities v.Usery (1976)and applied federal standards to non-national governments.
D)checked the power of Congress to impose the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)on local governments.

Question 7

The Marshall Court's ruling in Gibbons v.Ogden (1824)involved

A)Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce.
B)establishing implied powers to the national government.
C)the right of the federal government to renew the charter for the national bank.
D)Congress's right to levy an income tax.

Question 8

The Great Compromise adopted by the Framers of the Constitution involved

A)the procedures by which the Constitution would be ratified.
B)increasing the powers of the central government.
C)resolving disputes between the states and the central government by means of an independent judiciary.
D)adoption of a bicameral legislature with one house in which members were selected on the basis of population, and one house in which the states were equally represented.

Question 9

The Framers of the Constitution held to the belief of English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes that

A)people are born free, and natural rights cannot be taken from them.
B)government should be created by the people to serve the people.
C)human beings are contentious and selfish.
D)the right to revolt against an unjust government is a natural right.

Question 10

The Tenth Amendment provides a basis for arguments in favor of

A)holding the Supreme Court as the ultimate authority on issues of national importance.
B)nation-centered federalism.
C)state-centered federalism.
D)holding the president as the dominant figure in the federal government.

Question 11

The advantages of federalism include all of the following except

A)ensuring that national programs and priorities are achieved.
B)encouraging innovation.
C)helping to manage social and political conflict.
D)promoting administrative efficiency.

Question 12

At the Constitutional Convention, the larger states supported the

A)New Jersey Plan.
B)Virginia Plan.
C)New York Plan.
D)New Hampshire Plan.

Question 13

Whenever a state law conflicts with national law,

A)the national law supersedes the state law through a process known as federal preemption.
B)the state law remains in effect through the reserved powers clause of the Tenth Amendment.
C)government administrators choose which law is to be followed.
D)the Supreme Court settles the dispute and determines which law is to be followed.

Question 14

Creative federalism is a term used to describe

A)the efforts of President Reagan to turn programs back to the states.
B)the social welfare programs of President Roosevelt.
C)the social justice programs of President Kennedy.
D)the Great Society programs of President Johnson.

Question 15

The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution contains the

A)due process and equal protection clauses.
B)state sovereignty clause.
C)general welfare clause.
D)necessary and proper clause.

Question 16

Under the Articles of Confederation, the states agreed to establish

A)a federalist system.
B)a confederation.
C)a unitary form of government.
D)separate colonies unbound by written agreement.

Question 17

Enumerated powers in the U.S.Constitution are

A)powers that are expressly given to the national government.
B)synonymous with implied powers.
C)numerous, but checked greatly by the Ninth Amendment.
D)powers that are expressly given to local governments.

Question 18

The Constitutional Convention's debates in 1787 centered largely on

A)the amount of power to be allocated to local governments.
B)the role of the executive.
C)the role of the judiciary.
D)the division of power between large and small states.

Question 19

Dual federalism is a term used to describe a circumstance in which

A)national and state governments are sovereign and equal within their constitutionally allocated spheres of authority.
B)the state governments, having called the original Constitutional Convention, may agree to nullify federal acts.
C)the term nation-centered federalism best describes the allocation of authority.
D)the metaphor of a marble cake best represents the relationship between levels of government.

Question 20

A federal system provides for

A)both central and regional governments with powers protected in a constitution.
B)regional governments with greater power than the central government.
C)a central government with all legal power.
D)a means for state governments to withdraw if they see fit.

Question 21

A unitary system is a political arrangement where the power of the central government is supreme over the member states or nonnational governments.

Question 22

The interstate compact clause, authorized by the U.S.Constitution,

A)permits the national government to impose solutions to state problems.
B)addresses situations not covered in the Tenth Amendment.
C)provides a vehicle that is useful in settling disputes between two or more states.
D)settles disputes between local governments within a state.

Question 23

An intergovernmental transfer of funds or other assets, subject to conditions, is known as

A)general revenue sharing.
B)a grant-in-aid.
C)set-asides.
D)a federal mandate.

Question 24

A confederacy is a political arrangement in which power is derived from a central authority.

Question 25

The four provisions for cooperation among the states under the U.S.Constitution include all of the following except

A)the privileges and immunities clause, which prevents states from discriminating against citizens of other states who happen to be traveling or temporarily dwelling outside of their home state's borders.
B)the intrastate compact clause, which allows jurisdictions to enter into compacts with foreign countries.
C)the interstate rendition clause, which, among other things, requires that governors return fugitives to the state in which they were found guilty of, or were indicted for the commission of a crime.
D)the full faith and credit clause, which binds every citizen of every state to the laws and policies of other states.

Question 26

Factions consist of any group of citizens or interests united in a cause or action that can threaten the rights or interests of the larger society.

Question 27

States have less power under a federal system than under a unitary system.

Question 28

The devolution of responsibilities to the states accelerated

A)in the 1960s under President Johnson.
B)in the 1970s under President Carter.
C)in the 1980s under President Reagan.
D)in the 1950s under President Truman.

Question 29

One of the advantages of federalism is that it helps manage social and political conflict by broadly dispersing political power within and among governments.

Question 30

Historically speaking, national grant-in-aid expenditures

A)are at their lowest level since the Great Depression.
B)account for the largest share of the federal government's budget.
C)are currently at an all-time high.
D)are not an important source of revenue for non-national governments.

Question 31

Taxation, regulation of commerce, declaration of war, and the administration of military forces are all examples of concurrent powers expressly given to the national government.

Question 32

President Reagan's primary goal under his version of new federalism was to

A)consolidate power at the federal level.
B)consolidate power using regional governments across the nation.
C)shrink the size of the national government.
D)give states more money to pay for services.

Question 33

Block grants are

A)broader in focus than categorical grants.
B)narrower in focus than categorical grants.
C)used by the recipient for a narrowly defined purpose.
D)not as flexible as categorical grants.

Question 34

One of the disadvantages of federalism is that it may contribute to conflict among the various levels of government and may hinder efforts to achieve national goals.

Question 35

The Ninth Amendment reserves clear and specific powers for the states.

Question 36

The political arrangement under the Articles of Confederation is a good example of a unitary political system.

Question 37

When the national government requires states or localities to undertake a specific activity or provide a particular service but does not pay for it, this is referred to as

A)a project grant.
B)an unfunded federal mandate.
C)a revenue sharing provision.
D)an unfunded categorical grant.

Question 38

Following the American Revolution, the United States began as a confederacy under the Articles of Confederation.

Question 39

Under the George W.Bush administration, questions regarding federalism

A)were not very important because of the "War on Terror" and a increased focus on international affairs.
B)were clearly spelled out in the 2007 State of the Union speech, in which the president proclaimed that he would continue the "devolution revolution."
C)were not well articulated, and legislative initiatives of his administration sought to preempt state authority on several issues.
D)were less important, because the increase in federal revenues made funding less of an issue.

Question 40

One of the disadvantages of federalism is that it may encourage local biases that hinder the achievement of national goals.

Question 41

The full faith and credit clause of the U.S.Constitution binds every citizen of every state to the laws and policies of other states.

Question 42

Grants-in-aid are intergovernmental transfers of funds or other assets from one unit of government to another that seldom have mandates attached.

Question 43

President Lyndon B.Johnson sought to devolve powers to the states using creative federalism.

Question 44

The type of federalism currently in use is known as New Federalism III.

Question 45

In McCulloch v.Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution contained implied powers.

Question 46

The 1990s were characterized as the "decade of devolution."

Question 47

The compact theory of federalism became the foundation for states' rights arguments.

Question 48

President Reagan accelerated the process of devolution during the 1980s, but the devolution legacy ended with President George H.W.Bush in the early 1990s.

Question 49

The model of federalism currently in use is a modified version of creative federalism.

Question 50

General revenue sharing (GRS)was implemented during Lyndon B.Johnson's administration and remains the most popular way for the federal government to distribute funds to the states.

Question 51

Devolution typically involves delegating power and programs from the federal to state and local governments.

Question 52

Block grants are a form of financial aid from one level of government to another to be used for a broadly defined purpose.

Question 53

General revenue sharing (GRS)when enacted during the Nixon administration, provided funds to state and general-purpose local governments with no strings attached.

Question 54

The commerce clause of the U.S.Constitution allows Congress to regulate trade with foreign countries and among the states.

Question 55

Categorical grants are a form of financial aid from one level of government to another to be used for a narrowly defined purpose.

Question 56

Cooperative federalism was devised by President Lyndon B.Johnson to promote his vision of a "Great Society."

Question 57

The Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S.Constitution gave the federal government the power to levy income taxes.

Question 58

Compact theory has had little impact on the states' rights arguments.

Question 59

The concept of preemption holds that state laws take precedence over national laws.

Question 60

The Eleventh Amendment protects states from lawsuits by citizens of other states or foreign nations.Supreme Court decisions have upheld the sovereign immunity of the states from being sued in federal courts in cases involving lawsuits by Indian tribes, patent infringement when a state ventures into commercial activities, and discrimination against older employees.

Question 61

Trace the history of American federalism from colonial times into the current era.What changes have occurred over the past 200 years? What are the various distinct phases or periods that have occurred? What impact does federalism have on state and local governments? Include the advantages and disadvantages of federalism in your answer.

Question 62

A federal mandate is a requirement that a state or local government undertake a specific activity or provide a particular service as a condition of funding.

Question 63

Describe the concept of federalism and discuss its major advantages and disadvantages.

Question 64

Historical trends in federal grant-in-aid outlays showed that, in 2007, Alaska received the lowest per capita amount of federal grants.

Question 65

Discuss how powers and responsibilities are divided among levels of government in unitary, confederate, and federal systems of government.

Question 66

In your view, what does the future hold for federalism? In other words, what type of federalism do you think will become prevalent in the future?

Question 67

Provide some examples of recent issues that illustrate conflict between the federal government and the states.Is it ever justifiable for the federal government to use "coercive federalism" to achieve national goals?