Constitutional Powers
This amendment reserves powers not delegated to the federal government, nor prohibited to the states, to the states or the people.
What is the Tenth Amendment?
This type of federalism is often represented by a layer cake.
What is dual federalism?
This 1819 Supreme Court case upheld Congress's power to establish a national bank by establishing implied powers of the national government.
What is McCulloch v. Maryland?
This type of federal funding gives states broad discretion over how money is spent within a general policy area.
What are block grants?
Public education, policing, and issuing driver's licenses are primarily responsibilities of this level of government.
What are state and local governments?
President Barack Obama famously had a custom court installed at the White House to play this sport during his presidency.
What is basketball?
This clause establishes that the Constitution and valid federal laws take precedence over conflicting state laws.
What is the Supremacy Clause?
This type of federalism is represented by a marble cake because federal and state responsibilities overlap.
What is cooperative federalism?
This 1824 case that defined commerce as including all business dealings and expanded federal authority to regulate interstate commerce, including navigation.
What is Gibbons v. Ogden?
These federal grants provide money for specific purposes and typically have detailed conditions attached.
What are categorical grants?
Both federal and state governments can collect taxes, establish courts, and borrow money. These are examples of this type of power.
What are concurrent powers?
In 1910, William Howard Taft became the first U.S. President to establish this traditional opening-day ritual.
What is throwing out the ceremonial first pitch?
These powers are specifically granted to the federal government in the U.S. Constitution, such as declaring war, coining money, and regulating interstate commerce.
What are enumerated (expressed) powers?
This approach to federalism emphasizes returning authority and responsibility from the national government to the states.
What is devolution? or What is New Federalism?
This 1995 Supreme Court case struck down a federal law prohibiting guns in school zones because Congress exceeded its Commerce Clause authority. This introduced a new phase of federalism that recognized the importance of state sovereignty and local control.
What is United States v. Lopez?
This term describes federal requirements that state and local governments must follow, sometimes without sufficient federal funding.
What are federal mandates?
A state legalizes marijuana, but federal law continues to prohibit it. This situation demonstrates tension between state policy and this constitutional principle.
What is federal supremacy under the Supremacy Clause?
In 1947, Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball, an event that predated executive order 9981, which integrated this federal institution in 1948.
What is the U.S. Armed Forces (or Military)?
This clause allows Congress to regulate economic activity between states and with foreign nations.
What is the Commerce Clause?
Under this type of federalism, the national government and states generally operate in separate spheres of authority.
What is dual federalism?
In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled that Maryland could not tax the national bank because of this constitutional principle.
What is federal supremacy under the Supremacy Clause?
The federal government provides funding to states for education but requires them to meet specific national standards to receive the money. This is an example of which type of federal grant?
What is a categorical grant?
Congress passes a law regulating a purely local, non-economic activity and claims authority under the Commerce Clause. Identify the Supreme Court precedent most relevant to challenging the law.
What is United States v. Lopez?
The 1912 presidential campaign featured slogans like "Ready for Teddy Again" during his run under this third-party banner.
What is the Progressive Party (or Bull Moose Party)?
Congress creates a national bank even though the Constitution does not explicitly authorize one. Identify the type of power used and the constitutional clause supporting it.
What is an implied power supported by the Necessary and Proper Clause?
During this period of American history, the federal government dramatically expanded its role in addressing economic and social problems through New Deal programs, shifting the balance away from dual federalism toward cooperative federalism.
What is the Great Depression (or Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal era)?
Compare how McCulloch v. Maryland and United States v. Lopez interpreted the balance of power between the federal and state governments.
McCulloch expanded federal authority through implied powers, while Lopez limited federal authority under the Commerce Clause
A state receives federal funding to improve public transportation but is allowed to decide how to distribute the money among buses, trains, and other transportation projects. What type of grant is being used, and why might states prefer it?
What is a block grant?
The clause in the constitution that is most frequently used to expand the power of the federal government
What is the commerce clause?
He was the first living president to appear on U.S. paper money—on a $10 demand note authorized in 1861
Abraham Lincoln