Federalism

Nationalization is the correct answer—pay attention to the wording. You may have been tempted to put “shared federalism” due to question 1, but that is not correct. Remember: shared federalism is an idea or a description of government—it is not a process per se.

Nationalization is the process responsible for shifting power from state governments to the federal governments (and thus switching the relations from mostly dual to mostly shared federalism). There are several different means of nationalization; preemption, state-adverse Supreme Court decisions, or Congressional “carrots” (budget ‘gifts’ to states for compliance), to name a few. All of them, however, have shifted power from the states to the federal government.

This question asks for the definition of police powers. Police powers are powers to regulate health, safety, and wellbeing of citizens. These powers were reserved to the state governments under the Constitution. Executive power is power only exercised by the president in the US or a governor of a state. The legislative power are powers exercised by Congress or a state legislature to write legislation. The judicial power are powers exercised by judges or courts to interpret the law and decide cases. The sovereign power could mean a few things, but most generally it refers to all government's authority to rule, which would encompass police powers as well as all the other things government does.

The correct definition for "Sovereignty" is supreme and independent political authority. "Bicameralism" is the separation of the national legislature into two houses. The separation of powers is when the national government is separated into three different branches--the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches. "Federalism" is the division of powers and functions between the national government and the state governments.

This is a tough question. It’s likely that your kneejerk reaction was “true . . . duh.” Some advice—never kneejerk! Always think thoroughly prior to answering, no matter how simple you may think the question. In this case, if you took a few seconds to say the Pledge of Allegiance, you’d realize the correct answer, which is “republic,” thus making this answer “false.” The US, technically speaking, is a republic. Political scientists have regrettably muddied the word by using “indirect/representative democracy” and “republic” interchangeably. In our republic, we the people do not vote on laws (with some small exceptions); we elect representatives who then vote on laws on our behalf.

McColloch v Maryland in 1819 was the first major court case dealing with interpretation of Federal and State Power. The issue in this case was whether the Federal Government had the power to create a national bank. The constitution does not explicitly grant that power, but the court ruled that because of the Necessary and Proper Clause, the Federal government has implied powers that go beyond those explicitly stated.

Many state and local governments adopted the practice of initiative and referendum during the progressive era of American politics. This allows citizens to vote directly on propositions or initiate propositions of their own.

When the Federal government threatens to withhold funds to force states to comply with its priorities, like the national seed limit, the federal government relies on a tactic that characterizes the period of Regulated Federalism. Dual Federalism refers to the period before 1937, where the state and federal power remained separate and in general the states possessed more authority than the federal government. Cooperative federalism refers to the period from 1937 to 1960s where the Federal government uses grants-in-aid to pay the costs for any of its regulations imposed on the State governments. New Federalism refers to a period during the 1980s and 1990s, where Republican presidents and the Supreme Court began to make some reforms to reduce the power of the Federal government over the state governments.

There was much debate on the type of government that would be best for the United States. Many favored the ideas of John Locke and other philosophers but there was an overriding feeling that the new United States should have its own unique form of government. That raised the debate concerning power to govern and control of the government. Should it be a government controlled by the states, should it remain as it was under the Articles of Confederation, should it be a democracy or republic? There was no republic under the Articles of Confederation, nor was there a true federal government under the Articles of Confederation. The Federalists preferred a strong federal government based solely on the Constitution. That is why they were called the Federalists.

The questions asks for the definition of federalism. "Federalism" refers to the division of powers and authority between the state governments and the national government. "Bicameralism" is a concept concerning Congress or state legislatures. "Bicameralism" means that the legislature has two chambers. "Sovereignty" is incorrect because it means authority to rule. "Separation of powers" refers to the division of the national government into three branches--namely, the executive, the judicial, and the legislative. By contrast, "federalism" is about dividing authority between different levels of government--the federal or national government and the state governments.

Dual federalism is the correct answer, although this question is slightly misleading. It is much easier to envision dual and shared federalism as a continuum rather than strict alternatives. In other words, our government relations have never been one OR the other; it was mostly dual and now it is mostly shared. There have always been elements of both present.

Dual federalism is the idea that the federal government and the state governments preside over mutually exclusive spheres of sovereignty. This is a somewhat wordy way of saying that each level of government had their own responsibilities upon which the other could not intrude.

Shared federalism is the more accurate way to depict our nation-state relations currently. Shared federalism is the idea that, essentially, both the national government and the state governments work in concert to supply services to the public.