Key Terms
- bill of attainder
- a legislative action declaring someone guilty without a trial; prohibited under the Constitution
- block grant
- a type of grant that comes with less stringent federal administrative conditions and provide recipients more latitude over how to spend grant funds
- categorical grant
- a federal transfer formulated to limit recipients’ discretion in the use of funds and subject them to strict administrative criteria
- concurrent powers
- shared state and federal powers that range from taxing, borrowing, and making and enforcing laws to establishing court systems
- cooperative federalism
- a style of federalism in which both levels of government coordinate their actions to solve national problems, leading to the blending of layers as in a marble cake
- creeping categorization
- a process in which the national government attaches new administrative requirements to block grants or supplants them with new categorical grants
- devolution
- a process in which powers from the central government in a unitary system are delegated to subnational units
- dual federalism
- a style of federalism in which the states and national government exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction, creating a layer-cake view of federalism
- elastic clause
- the last clause of Article I, Section 8, which enables the national government “to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying” out all its constitutional responsibilities
- ex post facto law
- a law that criminalizes an act retroactively; prohibited under the Constitution
- federalism
- an institutional arrangement that creates two relatively autonomous levels of government, each possessing the capacity to act directly on the people with authority granted by the national constitution
- full faith and credit clause
- found in Article IV, Section 1, of the Constitution, this clause requires states to accept court decisions, public acts, and contracts of other states; also referred to as the comity provision
- general revenue sharing
- a type of federal grant that places minimal restrictions on how state and local governments spend the money
- immigration federalism
- the gradual movement of states into the immigration policy domain traditionally handled by the federal government
- new federalism
- a style of federalism premised on the idea that the decentralization of policies enhances administrative efficiency, reduces overall public spending, and improves outcomes
- nullification
- a doctrine promoted by John Calhoun of South Carolina in the 1830s, asserting that if a state deems a federal law unconstitutional, it can nullify it within its borders
- privileges and immunities clause
- found in Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution, this clause prohibits states from discriminating against out-of-staters by denying such guarantees as access to courts, legal protection, and property and travel rights
- race-to-the-bottom
- a dynamic in which states compete to attract business by lowering taxes and regulations, often to workers’ detriment
- unfunded mandates
- federal laws and regulations that impose obligations on state and local governments without fully compensating them for the costs of implementation
- unitary system
- a centralized system of government in which the subnational government is dependent on the central government, where substantial authority is concentrated
- venue shopping
- a strategy in which interest groups select the level and branch of government they calculate will be most receptive to their policy goals
- writ of habeas corpus
- a petition that enables someone in custody to petition a judge to determine whether that person’s detention is legal
