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U.S. Government and Civics

Unit 3

Federalism

6 topics · 24 practice questions · Free responseNot yet reviewed

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Notes

Types of power

  • Delegated (listed national), implied (necessary and proper), inherent (any sovereign nation), reserved (states, 10th Amendment), concurrent (both) and denied powers.

National supremacy

  • The supremacy clause makes valid federal law win over state law. The necessary and proper clause gives Congress implied powers.
  • ***McCulloch v. Maryland* (1819)** upheld a national bank and barred states from taxing it.

The commerce clause

  • ***Gibbons v. Ogden* (1824) read interstate commerce broadly. Heart of Atlanta (1964) upheld civil rights laws under it. U.S. v. Lopez (1995)** set limits: the activity must be economic.

States working together

  • Article IV: full faith and credit, privileges and immunities, extradition, interstate compacts.

Money and the shifting balance

  • Categorical grants (narrow, strict) versus block grants (broad, flexible); mandates, some unfunded. ***South Dakota v. Dole* (1987)** upheld conditions on highway funds.
  • Dual (layer cake) to cooperative (marble cake) federalism, plus devolution. ***Printz* (1997)** barred forcing local officials to run federal programs.

Topics in this unit

Each topic has its own short notes and practice.

Practice

Which is a reserved power of the states?
Congress creates a national bank, though the Constitution never mentions banks. Which clause and case support this?
Which case limited Congress's commerce power by ruling that carrying a gun near a school is not economic activity?
States generally prefer block grants to categorical grants because block grants:
A court in Florida orders a person to pay a debt, and a court in Georgia enforces that order. Which clause requires this?
Which statement best describes cooperative federalism?

Free response

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Free-response question

A state wants to set its own rules on a program, but Congress has passed a law and offered grants on the same issue.

(a) Explain the difference between a reserved power and a concurrent power, and give an example of each.

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A reserved power belongs only to the states under the 10th Amendment, such as running public schools or elections. A concurrent power is shared by the national and state governments, such as collecting taxes.

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(b) Explain how the supremacy clause applies if the state law directly conflicts with a valid federal law.

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The supremacy clause in Article VI makes the Constitution and federal laws the supreme law of the land. If the federal law is constitutional, it overrides the conflicting state law.

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(c) Describe how Congress can use grants to influence state policy, citing ONE Supreme Court case.

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Congress can attach conditions to federal money. In South Dakota v. Dole (1987), the Court upheld a law withholding part of a state's highway funds unless it set a drinking age of 21, so states raised the age to keep the money.

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