PSCI 1100 Midterm 1 Exam with Complete Answers
Federalism - Answer-Federalism is a political system in which authority is allocated to the national government and subnational governments. Hybrid arrangement that mixes elements of a confederation, in which lower-level governments possess primary ...
PSCI 1100 Midterm 1 Exam
with Complete Answers
Federalism - Answer-Federalism is a political system in which authority is allocated to
the national government and subnational governments. Hybrid arrangement that mixes
elements of a confederation, in which lower-level governments possess primary
authority, and unitary government, in which the national government monopolizes
constitutional authority
Compromise of the nation's fear of centralized power (Britain) but also the lack of
productivity that came from the Articles of Confederation allocating too much power to
the states
Unitary government - Answer-the national government monopolizes constitutional
authority
After the war, citizens rejected a unitary system
Dual federalism - Answer-leaving the states and national government to preside over
mutually exclusive "spheres of sovereignty"
Ex: foreign policy and national defense are national concerns; matters that "in the
ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives" of citizens are state concerns
Shared federalism - Answer-national and state governments jointly supply services to
the citizenry
State and federal powers intersect over many of the most important functions
Nationalization - Answer-national government has a hand in almost all policies that
"concern the lives" of the citizenry
Much more federal power
Enumerated powers - Answer-a list in the Constitution that enables the national
government to address problems that the states had not grappled with effectively under
the Articles of Confederation
Permits expanded National Authority
Block grant - Answer-when the federal government gives a state or local authority an
exact amount of money to spend for some purpose
Essentially lets the federal government set spending levels
Matching grant - Answer-when the federal government promises to provide matching
funds, usually between $1&4, for every dollar that a state spends in some area
, Often lead to major program expansions
Creates a "moral hazard": a situation in which people or groups behave differently, and
often take more risks, when they do not have to pay all the costs of their actions
Allow the federal government to equalize living conditions across states with radically
unequal economies
Richer states receive small federal matches, poorer states get larger federal matches
Incentivize higher state spending
Redistribute money across the nation
Creates partisan contention
Matching grants allow the federal government to expand faster than block grants
unfunded mandate - Answer-states are required to administer policies that the federal
government sets, and the federal government may not even compensate the states for
the cost of administration
Concentrates on civil rights and the environment - the two sectors in which national
majorities are likely to be at odds with state majorities
Many authorities find themselves strapped for resources and must end existing
programs to satisfy federal mandates
crossover sanctions - Answer-requirements that a state, to remain eligible for full federal
funding for one program, must adhere to the guidelines of an unrelated program
Ex: Congress tying federal highway funds to state adoption of 21 drinking age
direct orders - Answer-requirements that can be enforced by legal and civil penalties
partial preemption - Answer-allow states to administer joint federal-state programs as
long as they conform to federal guidelines
race to the bottom - Answer-when states face incentives to engage in a race to the
bottom in social services by cutting back on things like the size of the monthly check a
state pays to welfare recipients so that it will not become a "welfare magnet" that
attracts the low-income residents of other states
The incentives that a decentralized welfare policy creates to do so might harm society's
most vulnerable
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - Answer-The Supreme Court ruled that Congress had
the authority to establish a national bank. This case was significant because it helped
expand the national government's powers by saying that Congress had implied powers
under the elastic clause.
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) - Answer-The Supreme Court ruled that only Congress
possessed the authority to regulate interstate commerce. The case was significant
because once the court had sanctioned federal authority to regulate commerce, the
supremacy clause gave the national government the authority to preempt the states in
virtually all policies involving interstate commerce.
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