Deck 15: Intergovernmental Relations

Question 1

Which of the following major issues illustrates the need for coordination among levels of government and across jurisdictions at the same level of government?

A) Controlling air emission and water pollution
B) Various forms of terrorist threats: physical and cyberwarfare
C) Natural disasters
D) Public health emergencies
E) All of these are correct.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

The ability of a state to raise revenue to meet its spending requirements is called its:

A) tax burden.
B) taxing limit.
C) fiscal capacity.
D) gross state product.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

At the state level, what does the total taxable resources (TTR) index, as calculated by U.S. Department of the Treasury, attempt to measure?

A) Tax burden
B) Taxing limit
C) Fiscal capacity
D) Gross state product

Answer 3

D

Question 4

When all levels of government tax the same source, such as personal income, this phenomenon is called:

A) tax overlapping.
B) tax competition.
C) shared taxes.
D) progressive taxation.

Question 5

Which of the following is not an example of federal nongrant spending at the state and local levels?

A) Defense contracts
B) Wages paid to federal civilian workers and military personnel
C) Medicare and Medicaid
D) Military base closure

Question 6

Which state has the highest ratio of federal spending per dollar of federal tax collected?

A) Delaware
B) Kentucky
C) Ohio
D) New York

Question 7

About one-third of all federal aid to local governments went to municipalities, but these monies constituted only about what percentage of municipal revenues?

A) 4-6%
B) 9-11%
C) 15-16%
D) 25%

Question 8

Unlike the other states, which funnel elementary and secondary school money to local districts, which state directly operates its own schools?

A) Delaware
B) Hawaii
C) Ohio
D) Maine

Question 9

The ability to replace local or state resources for a program with federal grant money is known as:

A) substituting.
B) flypaper effect.
C) redistribution.
D) fungibility.

Question 10

Federal aid for transportation improvements, which accounted for more than 40% of the total in the 1960s and declined to about 20% in 1970, represents approximately what percentage of total federal aid today?

A) About 5%
B) About 10%
C) About 15%
D) About 25%

Question 11

When the federal government imposes its authority under the Constitution to supersede state authority, this is called:

A) control.
B) usurpation.
C) preemption.
D) sovereignty.

Question 12

Among the various types of federal financial assistance to states and local governments, which of the following would we place at the opposite end of the spectrum from categorical grants?

A) General revenue sharing
B) Block grants
C) Cooperative agreements
D) Project grants

Question 13

Any local government in the United States can be eliminated by its state.

Question 14

Federal taxes collected in the South and the West have tended to be greater than federal expenditures in these regions.

Question 15

In most states, aid to local governments is the largest element in the state budget.

Question 16

Equal opportunity to learn can be ensured by equal funding, and higher student performance can be correlated with higher funding amounts.

Question 17

While the term "devolution" denotes a shift or change in responsibility, to state and local governments in the United States, it has meant outright reduction in federal aid, other than in unusual circumstances such as a recession.

Question 18

What is the name for the structural system of intergovernmental relations that we have in the United States, in which power is shared among the federal government and 50 sovereign states, 570 Native American tribal entities, and more than 90,000 local governments; and what is the name for the most common other structural arrangement among national and non-national governmental entities?

Question 19

What is the term for that describes the economic advantage of performing governmental functions at the level (federal, state, local) that is most efficient at carrying out the assigned functions.

Question 20

What constitutes the largest portion of state aid to local governments?

Question 21

Foundation formulas for state aid to local school districts are typically tied to what measure?

Question 22

Aid to local governments in many states rises and falls depending on what factor?

Question 23

What do we call the theory that the more separation that exists between taxing and spending, the more local taxpayers will not perceive the full costs of local services?

Question 24

What is the term for the fundamental shift in responsibility for policy, programs, and financial aid from the federal government to the states and municipalities?

Question 25

What is the name for grant funds that are targeted for expenditure in specified areas and have a narrow focus?

Question 26

What do we call federal or state requirements imposed on state and local governments that are not tied to any financial assistance programs?

Question 27

Except for school districts, all other types of local government obtain how much of their revenue from their own sources?

Question 28

In the older metropolitan areas of the Northeast and Midwest, what has been the principal factor affecting local government fiscal imbalances, causing problems in the pattern of services and the ability to pay for those services?

Question 29

What have been the various types of financial aid flowing from the federal government to the states and local governments, as well as from states to their local governments? In addition to direct financial aid, what other intergovernmental devices are employed? Describe the changes that have been occurring on the intergovernmental fiscal landscape. What course do you expect for intergovernmental relations in the future?