Chapter 4 Section 4 Notes

I.               Federalism and Public Policy

A.     policy is a stated course of action.

B.     Announcing a policy means that a person or organization has decided upon a conscious, deliberate way of handling similar issues.

C.     The course of action a government takes in response to some issue or problem is called public policy.

D.    Federalism affects how and where new policies are made in the United States. It also introduces limits on government policy-making.

E.     Federalism permits states and localities to serve as providing grounds where new policies can be developed and tested.

F.     Sometimes the national government will impose new policies on states in which local pressure groups have resisted change.

II.             Federalism and Political Parties

A.     Rival political parties are a key element of democratic government.

B.     Each political party has a chance to win some elections somewhere in the system, helping lessen the risk of one political party gaining a monopoly on political powers.

III.           Political Participation

A.     Federalism increases people’s opportunities for political participation. It also increases the possibilities that a person’s participation will have some practical effect.

B.     Many Opportunities

a.     Federalism provides for several levels of government and for a great number of state and local government officials.

b.     American federalism give citizens many points of access to government and opportunities for influencing public policy.

c.      Citizens may work with interest groups to influence national policies and state and local government agencies.

C.     Increasing Chances of Success

a.     A related effect of federalism is to increase the chances that one’s political participation will have some practical impact.

b.     Most people are more likely to become involved in political activities if they think their efforts will contribute to something.

D.    Federalism’s Professional Politicians

a.     The increase of federal programs also changed the political relationship of state and federal government officials.

IV.            Differences Among the States

A.     Federalism contributes to real economic and political differences among the states because it permits each state considerable freedom in arranging its own internal affairs.

B.     Because states can create different economic and political environments, Americans have more choices in the conditions under which they want to live.

Chapter 4 Section 3 Notes

I.               Interstate Relations

A.     Full Faith and Credit

a.     Each state must recognize the laws and legal proceedings of other states.

b.     One state cannot enforce another state’s criminal law.

c.      Judicial decisions in civil matters in one state will be honored and enforced in all states.

B.     Privileges and Immunities

a.     The constitution provides that “the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in several states.”

b.     Although the courts have never given a complete listing of these privileges and immunities, some included are the rights to pass through or live in any state; use the courts; make contracts; buy, sell, and hold property, and marry (if you’re straight, excluding the growing bit of America that legalized gay marriage).

c.      If you’re not a state resident, you cannot vote, serve on juries, or use certain public facilities.

d.     Nonresidents of a state do not have the same right to attend publicly supported institutions.

C.     Extradition

a.     Helps keep states from protecting fugitives.

b.     Congress has made the governor of the state to which the fugitives have fled responsible for returning them.

c.      Congress has acted to close the extradition loophole by making it a federal crime to flee from one state to another in order to avoid prosecution for a felony.

D.    Interstate Compacts

a.      The constitution requires states to settle their difference with one another without using force.

b.     Interstate compacts are written agreements between two or more states.

c.      Interstate compacts have become an important way for the states to deal with regional problems without resorting to national government intervention.

E.     Lawsuits Between States

a.     Lawsuits between states are heard in the US Supreme Court, the only court in which one state may sue another.

b.     Cases often include water rights and boundary lines.

II.             Admission of New States

A.     Congress Admits New States

a.     The constitution give congress the power to admit new states to the union.

b.     No state may be formed by taking territory from one or more states without the consent of the states involved and of congress.

c.      The president can veto Acts of admission.

d.     The process begins when Congress passes an enabling act. This act, when signed by the president, enables the people of the territory to prepare a constitution, and submits it to congress. If congress approves, the territory becomes a state.

B.     Conditions for Admission

a.     Congress or the president may impose certain conditions before admitting a new state, including requiring changes in the drafted constitution submitted by a territory.

b.     Once the state is admitted, those conditions may be enforced only if they do not interfere with the new state’s authority to manage its own internal affairs like any other state.

C.     Equality of the states

a.     Once admitted to the union, each state is equal to the rest.

b.     No state has more privileges/fewer obligations than any other.

c.      Each state is legally separate from every other state in the Union.

Chapter 4 Section 1

National Government Powers

Expressed – those powers directly expressed or stated in the constitution.

Implied – those powers that the national government requires to carry out the powers that are expressly defined in the constitution. They rely on expressed powers in order to exist.

Inherent – those that the national government may exercise simply because it is a government.

State Powers – the constitution reserves certain powers for the states, called reserved powers. The constitution does not directly state these powers.

The Supremacy Clause – no state law or state constitution may conflict with any form of national law.

Concurrent Power of National and State Governments – powers that both the national government and the states have.

Powers denied by the Constitution – the constitution specifically denies some powers, such as taxing export and cannot interfere with the ability of states to carry out their responsibilities

Obligations to the states

- the national government must guarantee each state a republican form of government

- the national government must protect states from invasion and domestic violence.

-the national government has the duty to respect the territorial integrity of each state. The national government cannot use territory that is part of an existing state to create a new state.

Obligations of the States

            -state and local government conduct and pay for elections of all national government officials, senators, representatives, and presidential electors.

            -the states play a key role in the amendment process: no amendment can be added to the constitution unless ¾ of the states approve it.

How the Supreme Court acts as Umpire between the National and State Governments

            -in a conflict between the national government and the state government, the national government is supreme.

Chapter 3 Section 4 answers

1) Why has the Constitution been able to informally change?  Give some examples.
Because it is a very general document that doesn’t specify a lot of things

I.E. The constitution gave congress the power to regulate commerce, but they didn’t say what they could do. This allowed the authorities the power to regulate child labor and commercials.

2) How has Congress expanded the executive branch? 

By creating the cabinet departments, agencies, boards, and commissions

3) What is the impeachment process?  What crimes can a President be impeached for? 

The house may impeach, or accuse, federal officials, and it is up to the senate to determine if they are guilty or innocent. Conduct that violates constitutional responsibilities and implies a clear neglect of duty.

4) Discuss John Tyler's Presidency.  How did he interpret the Constitution?  What is the other view of this interpretation?
He took the presidential oath of office, and finished out the term. Other thoughts he should just assume the position of president until another one could be elected.

5) What is an executive agreement?  How has it expanded the powers of the President?
it is a agreement made directly between the president and the head of state of another country. It has weakened the constitutional checks and balances, giving the president.

6) Discuss the two views of Judicial Review.
judicial restraint – court should avoid taking the initiative on social and political questions, uphold acts of congress unless it clearly violates the constitution (the court should leave the development of new policies to others)

judicial activism – court should play an active role in shaping national policies, should boldly apply the constitution to pressing social and political questions

7) Give an example of how the Supreme Court has ruled the Constitution meaning one thing and then later changing its mind.
in 1896, African Americans ruled to have separate public facilities for African Americans, and they repealed it in 1954

8) State the four sources of informal constitutional change.
Customs/Changes of the times

Presidential actions

Federal courts

Congressional actions

9) How could judicial activism infringe on powers given Congress in the Constitution?

It can say that congress is wrong in a decision they make