1. CONSTITUTIONAL UNDERPINNINGS AND FEDERALISM
REVIEW TOPICS #1 AND #2
CONSTITUTIONAL UNDERPINNINGS AND FEDERALISM

2. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
Writers trying to avoid strong central government
First constitution
Established a National Congress (no executive, no courts)
Most power given to state legislatures

3. Shay’s Rebellion
Series of attacks on Mass. Courthouses by small band of farmers to block foreclosures
National leaders afraid protestors would take law into their own hands
Demonstrated weakness of national government

4. PROBLEMS/WEAKNESSES OF ARTICLES
No power to tax (money had to be requested from states)
No power to regulate commerce (inhibited trade and made Nat. economy difficult)
No restriction on currency
No judiciary to rule on disputes

5. Weaknesses and problems led to the need for a new constitution

7. ASSUMPTIONS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS
People are greedy and self-interested (government should play a key role in containing self-interest)
Chief source of political conflict is unequal distribution of wealth-land in those days
Factions arise from conflict (factions have to be checked)

8. Object of Government: preservation of property and property rights
The Founders created a republic—a government run by elected representatives.

9. Is this kind of creepy?

10. Powers of Congress Congressional (Article 1) 1. Pass legislation
2. Override vetoes
3. Appropriate money
4. Impeachment
5. Confirmation of Presidential Appointments (Senate)

11. Powers of Congress 6. Ratify treaties (Senate) 7. Declare war
8. Levy taxes
9. Coin money
10. Regulate interstate and foreign commerce

12. Powers of the Executive
Executive (Article 2)
1. Commander-in-chief
2. Recognize ambassadors(give diplomatic recognition)
3. Make treaties (Senate confirms)
4. Nominate judges, cabinet secretaries (Senate Confirms

13. Powers of the President
Veto bills
Pardon

14. Powers of the Judiciary
Judicial, Article 3
1. Judicial Review (only implied)
2. Original jurisdiction on matters between states

15. Inherent Powers
Powers that are derived from simply holding a position, such as Thomas Jefferson’s power as president to purchase the Louisiana Territory

16. Expressed Powers
Powers that are given to an institution of government directly in the Constitution, such as Congress’s power to tax

17. ECONOMIC PROVISIONS IN THE CONSTITUTION
1. Congress levies taxes and regulates interstate and foreign commerce
2. Coin money and forbid states from currency
3. Congress can borrow money
4. Congress can build an infrastructure (roads, post offices, weights and measurements)

18. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION
1. Writ of habeas corpus (must be told of charges and evidence)
2. No bills of attainder (punishment without trials)
3. No ex post facto (laws to criminalize behavior that was legal when it took place)
4. Strict definition of treason

19. Individual Rights 5. Trial by jury
Notes: Individual rights were a major issue in the ratification process. The Founding Fathers believed that states were doing sufficient job of protecting rights.

20. CHECKS AND BALANCES
Features of Constitution which limit power and require power to be balanced among branches
Three branches remain relatively independent from one another

21. EXECUTIVE
Veto legislation (Congress)
Nominate judges (Judicial)

22. LEGISLATIVE Impeachment (Executive and Judicial)
Confirm Nominations (Executive)
Override vetoes with a 2/3 vote (Executive)
Confirm Judicial Nominees (Judicial)

23. JUDICIAL Declare laws unconstitutional (Legislative)
Declare presidential acts unconstitutional (Executive)

24. AMENDMENT PROCESS
Proposal: 2/3 of Congress or 2/3 of states at National Convention
Ratification: 3/4 of state legislatures or 3/4 of states at state conventions
All amendments except 21st have been through Congress and state legislatures

25. FEDERALIST PAPERS/FEDERALIST 10
85 articles by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison that defended the Constitution in detail
The Constitution sets faction against faction
Fed 10 is considered best defense of checks and balances

26. Federalist Paper 10
Madison argues that political factions are undesirable but inevitable and must be controlled
Factions are more easily controlled in large republics.

27. 2002 QUESTION
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison argued that factions in a republic are
A more serious threat if the republic is large
Natural but controllable by institutions
Not likely to occur if people are honest
Prevented by majority rule
Prevented by free elections
Answer: B

28. BILL OF RIGHTS NY agrees to ratify if a Bill of Rights will be added
First 10 amendments added in 1791
First 8 deal with individual rights
Last 2 deal with state powers

29. INFORMAL CHANGES Ways Constitution has evolved without formal changes
2 party system
Winner-take-all in Electoral College
Judicial Interpretation (Plessy and Brown)
Growth/Expectations of government (Great Depression, Cold War)

30. FEDERALISM AND THE CONSTITUTION

31. DEFINING FEDERALISM Sharing power at two or more levels
At least some powers of the states must be independent and protected

32. 10TH AMENDMENT
Powers not delegated to Federal Government or prohibited to states are reserved for the states and the people.

33. RESERVED and CONCURRENT POWERS
1. Conduct elections
2. Establish local governments.
Concurrent Powers are shared
Taxation

34. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and elastic clause
Establishing a national bank is an implied power.
States can’t interfere or tax the national government
Supremacy over states through implied powers of elastic clause (“necessary and proper”)
Has allowed federal power to expand.

35. Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) and Commerce Clause
Congress can regulate all interstate commerce, including every form of commercial activity

36. 2002 QUESTION
Of the following, which has been used most to expand the power of the national government?
The commerce clause of the Const
The habeas corpus clause of the Const
The bill of attainder clause of the Const
The 1st amendment
The 5th amendment
Answer: A

37. DUAL FEDERALISM
States and the federal government stay supreme within their own sphere (layer cake metaphor)
Not applicable after 1930s

38. COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM
Powers and policy shared between state and Federal Government (marble cake metaphor)
Since the New Deal

39. FISCAL FEDERALISM
Pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants within the federal system.

40. 2002 QUESTION
The terms “fiscal federalism” and “cooperative federalism” refer to situations in which
A. The federal government completely dominates state and local governments.
B. States are forbidden any activity that has not been specifically approved by the Supreme Court
C. The fed. Judiciary uses its power of judicial review to ensure congressional dominance over state legislatures
D. State, municipal and local income taxes are pooled by special agreement and redistributed in accordance with individual need
Federal, state, and local govts work together to complete a project, with federal govt providing much of the project funding
Answer: E

41. CATEGORICAL GRANTS
Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes (800 or 900 categories)
2 types:
A. Project: awarded on merit for specific program
B. Formula: distributed according to a formula

42. BLOCK GRANTS
Grants given more or less automatically to states or communities as long as conditions are met (ex. Following civil rights legislation)

43. 2002 QUESTION
States and localities have the most discretion in establishing policy when federal funding is derived from
Categorical grants
Matching grants
Block grants
Project grants
Grants-in-aid
Answer: C

44. REVENUE SHARING Federal aide with no strings attached
Helpful to poor states
Usually happens when there is a federal budget surplus

45. UNFUNDED MANDATES
When Congress passes a law creating financial obligations but provides no funds to meet those obligations
ADA in 1990

46. 2002 QUESTION
Which of the following actions by the federal government best illustrates the concept of unfunded mandates?
A. Requiring that polling booths remain open beyond the hours of the workday
B. Requiring states and municipalities to provide certain services for their citizens without providing resources to pay for those services
C. Requiring state governments to guarantee short-term bonds issued by large municipalities in their states
D. Requiring all municipalities to impose a minimum property tax on all residential and business properties
Requiring states and municipalities to privatize many previously publicly funded services.
Answer: B

47. EFFECTS OF FEDERALISM Inequality in government services among states
Opportunities for experimentation at state level
Multiple points of access for interest groups
Decentralization of political conflict

48. 2005 FREE RESPONSE
The power of the federal government relative to the power of the states has increased since the ratification of the Constitution
a. Describe two of the following provisions of the Constitution and explain how each has been used over time to expand fed power: Power to tax and spend, “Necessary and proper” or “elastic” clause, commerce clause
b. Explain how one of the following has increased the power of the federal government relative to the power of state governments
Americans with Disabilities Act
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Clean Air Act