exam 2 study

Question 1

block grants

Answer 1

Federal grants-in-aid that permit state and local officials to decide how the money will be spent within a general area, such as education or health

Question 2

categorical grants

Answer 2

Federal grants-in-aid to states and localities that can be used only for designated projects

Question 3

commerce clause

Answer 3

The authority granted Congress in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution “to regulate commerce” among the states.

Question 4

confederacy

Answer 4

A governmental system in which sovereignty is vested entirely in subnational (state) governments. (See also federalism; unitary system.)

Question 5

cooperative federalism

Answer 5

The situation in which the national, state, and local levels work together to solve problems.

Question 6

devolution

Answer 6

The passing down of authority from the national government to the state and local governments.

Question 7

dual federalism

Answer 7

A doctrine based on the idea that a precise separation of national power and state power is both possible and desirable.

Question 8

enumerated (expressed) powers

Answer 8

The 17 powers granted to the national government under Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution.

includes: taxation and the regulation of commerce, as well as the authority to provide for the national defense.

Question 9

federalism

Answer 9

A governmental system in which authority is divided between two sovereign levels of government: national and regional.

Question 10

fiscal federalism

Answer 10

The expenditure of federal funds on programs run, in part, through states and localities.

Question 11

grants-in-aid

Answer 11

Federal cash payments to states and localities for programs they administer.

Question 12

implied powers

Answer 12

The federal government’s constitutional authority (through the “necessary and proper” clause) to take action that is not expressly authorized by the Constitution but that supports actions that are so authorized.

Powers that are not explicitly stated in the Constitution but are necessary and proper for the govt. to carry out its enumerated powers.

Question 13

nationalization

Answer 13

The process by which authority in the American federal system has shifted gradually from the states to the national government.

Question 14

“necessary and proper” clause

Answer 14

The authority granted Congress in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper” for the carrying out of its enumerated powers.

Question 15

New Federalism

Answer 15

Term used by Republican presidents Nixon and Reagan to express the idea that federal programs, regulations, and spending in policy areas traditionally reserved for the states should be reduced.

Question 16

reserved powers

Answer 16

The powers granted to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Question 17

sovereignty

Answer 17

The supreme (or ultimate) authority to govern within a certain geographic area.

Question 18

supremacy clause

Answer 18

Article VI of the Constitution, which makes national law supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.

Question 19

unitary system

Answer 19

A governmental system in which the national government alone has sovereign (or ultimate) authority.

Question 20

Bill of Rights

Answer 20

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution.

They include rights such as freedom of speech and religion and due process protections (for example, the right to a jury trial) for persons accused of crimes.

Question 21

civil liberties

Answer 21

The fundamental individual rights of a free society, such as freedom of speech and the right to a jury trial, which in the United States are protected by the Bill of Rights.

Question 22

clear-and-present-danger test

Answer 22

A test devised by the Supreme Court in 1919 to define the limits of free speech in the context of national security.

According to the test, government cannot abridge political expression unless it presents a clear and present danger to the nation’s security.

Question 23

due process clause

Answer 23

The clause of the Constitution (included in the Fourteenth Amendment) that has been used by the judiciary to apply Bill of Rights protections to the actions of state governments.

The part of the Constitution that guarantees individuals fair treatment under the law.

Question 24

establishment clause

Answer 24

The First Amendment provision stating that government may not favor one religion over another or favor religion over no religion and prohibiting Congress from passing laws respecting the establishment of religion.

Question 25

exclusionary rule

Answer 25

The legal principle that government is prohibited from using in trials evidence that was obtained by unconstitutional means (for example, illegal search and seizure).

Question 26

freedom of expression

Answer 26

Americans’ freedom to communicate their views, the foundation of which is the First Amendment rights of freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Question 27

free-exercise clause

Answer 27

A First Amendment provision that prohibits the government from interfering with the practice of religion.

Question 28

imminent lawless action

Answer 28

A legal test that says government cannot lawfully suppress advocacy that promotes lawless action unless such advocacy is aimed at producing, and is likely to produce, imminent lawless action.

Question 29

Lemon test

Answer 29

A three-part test to determine whether a law relating to religion is valid under the religious establishment clause. To be valid, a law must have 1. a secure purpose 2. serve neither to advance nor inhibit religion 3. avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.

Question 30

libel

Answer 30

The publication of false material that damages a person’s reputation.

Question 31

prior restraint

Answer 31

Government prohibition of speech or publication before the fact, which is presumed by the courts to be unconstitutional unless the justification for it is overwhelming.

Question 32

procedural due process

Answer 32

The constitutional requirement that government must follow proper legal procedures before a person can be legitimately punished for an alleged offense.

Question 33

right of privacy

Answer 33

A right implied by the freedoms in the Bill of Rights that grants individuals a degree of personal privacy upon which government cannot lawfully intrude. The right gives individuals a level of free choice in areas such as reproduction and intimate relations.

Question 34

selective incorporation

Answer 34

The process by which certain rights (for example, freedom of speech) contained in the Bill of Rights become applicable through the Fourteenth Amendment (due process clause) to actions by the state governments. “selective” = case by case basis court decides which rights are fundamental and must be enforced at the state level

Question 35

slander

Answer 35

Spoken falsehoods that damage a person’s reputation.

Question 36

symbolic speech

Answer 36

Action (for example, the waving or burning of a flag) for the purpose of expressing a political opinion.

Question 37

affirmative action

Answer 37

Programs designed to ensure that women, minorities, and other traditionally disadvantaged groups have full and equal opportunities in employment, education, and other areas of life.

Question 38

de facto discrimination

Answer 38

Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, ethnicity, and the like that results from social, economic, and cultural biases and conditions.

Question 39

de jure discrimination

Answer 39

Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, ethnicity, and the like that results from a law.

Question 40

equal-protection clause

Answer 40

A clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny equal protection of the laws to any individual within its jurisdiction.

Question 41

equal rights (civil rights)

Answer 41

The right of every person to equal protection under the laws and equal access to society’s opportunities and public facilities.

Question 42

reasonable-basis test

Answer 42

A test applied by courts to laws that treat individuals unequally. Such a law may be deemed constitutional if its purpose is held to be “reasonably” related to a legitimate government interest.

Question 43

strict-scrutiny test

Answer 43

A test applied by courts to laws that attempt a racial or ethnic classification. In effect, the strict-scrutiny test eliminates race or ethnicity as legal classification when it places minority-group members at a disadvantage.

Question 44

suspect classifications

Answer 44

Legal classifications, such as race and national origin, that have invidious discrimination as their purpose and therefore are unconstitutional.

Question 45

why is cooperative federalism also known as marble cake federalism?

Answer 45

because the different parts of the govt. are working together and that is similar in aspect to a marble cake rather than each layer being separate from each other

Question 46

why is dual federalism also known as layer cake federalism?

Answer 46

different levels of the cake are separate like the different levels of government

Question 47

what are the responsibilities of the legislative branch?

Answer 47

- make laws - approve budgets and govt. spending - declare war - confirm presidential appointments - con impeach and remove the president or judges

Question 48

Black Codes

Answer 48

Try to define the place that blacks had in society in the South after the Civil War Tried to find their legal status ex: non-whites could not own firearms, real estate, work certain jobs, etc.

Question 49

Jim Crow Laws

Answer 49

series of state and local laws primarily in the south that enforced racial segregation and discrimination from the late 19th century until the civil rights movement in the 1960’s

Question 50

Grandfather Clause

Answer 50

said that if your grandfather voted, then you can vote (excluded the blacks)

Question 51

Civil War Amendments (and what are they)

Answer 51

- 13th amendment: released the slaves and outlaw slavery - 14th amendment: makes black americans citizens of the US (due process and equal protection clauses are found here) - 15th amendment: gave blacks the right for black americans to vote

Question 52

Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 52

- Plessy (1/8th black) sat in a white railroad car and was arrested for doing so - Plessy argued that the law violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause - established the “separate but equal” doctrine (as long as the facilities are equal, they can be separate)

Question 53

Brown v Board of Education

Answer 53

- black child was denied entrance to a white school - she passed the white school on her way to the black school every day which was an additional mile walk - invoked the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause, declaring that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional

Question 54

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Answer 54

Based on Congress’s power to regulate commerce, the legislation entitles all persons to equal access to public accommodations also bars discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the workplace

Question 55

Roe V. Wade

Answer 55

- established that women had the right to an abortion - the court held that the right of privacy is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision on whether or not to terminate her pregnancy - overruled by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022

Question 56

McCulloch v. Maryland

Answer 56

- Maryland levied taxes on the national bank’s operations - McCulloch was in charge of the national bank and refused to pay the Tax - court ruled in favor of national authority - believed that the federal govt. had the implied power to create a national bank (necessary and improper clause) - they concluded that valid national law supersedes conflicting state law - the national govt. had the power to create a back and protect the bank from states attempt to weaken it

Question 57

doctrine of nullification

Answer 57

- John C. Calhoun declared that the united states was founded upon a compact between states rather than individuals - declared that a state has the constitutional right to nullify a national law

Question 58

Emancipation Proclamation

Answer 58

- freed the slaves in the states that are in rebellion against the US (not border states and not states fighting with the union) - signed by Lincoln in 1863

Question 59

Provisions of the first amendment

Answer 59

freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition

Question 60

Miranda Rule

Answer 60

made it so that police were required to read out their rights to suspects

Question 61

Intermediate Scrutiny

Answer 61

assumed unconstitutional unless law serves a compelling purpose

Question 62

Balancing Test

Answer 62

- legal principle used by courts to weigh competing interests and determine which prevail - courts evaluate on a case by case basis - ex: individual rights vs govt. interests in determining the constitutionality of laws or actions

Question 63

what are the responsibilities of the executive branch? (5)

Answer 63

- enforce laws - lead military as commander in chief - conduct foreign policy and negotiate treaties - appoint federal officials - can veto laws passed by congress

Question 64

what are the responsibilities of the judicial branch?

Answer 64

- interpret laws and determines their constitutionality - resolve disputes between state and federal governments - protect individual rights and ensures laws are applied fairly - can overturn laws or executive actions deemed unconstitutional

Question 65

Provisions of the second amendment

Answer 65

protects the right to bear arms

Question 66

Provisions of the third amendment

Answer 66

prohibits the forced quartering of soldiers in private homes during peacetime

Question 67

Provisions of the fourth amendment

Answer 67

protects against unreasonable search and seizure

Question 68

Provisions of the fifth amendment

Answer 68

provides protections for those accused of crimes (due process, double jeopardy, right to remain silent, eminent domain)

Question 69

Provisions of the sixth amendment

Answer 69

guarantees rights in criminal trials (right to a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury, confront witnesses, legal counsel, be informed of changes)

Question 70

Provisions of the seventh amendment

Answer 70

provides for jury trials in civil cases where the dispute exceeds a certain monetary value

Question 71

Provisions of the eighth amendment

Answer 71

prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment

Question 72

Provisions of the ninth amendment

Answer 72

states that the rights of the people are not limited to those listed in the constitution

Question 73

Provisions of the tenth amendment

Answer 73

reserves powers not given to the federal govt. to the states or the people