Deck 3: Federalism

Question 1

Which of the following are you less likely to see in a confederation than in a federation?

A) legislative body
B) executive
C) court system
D) national military
E) taxes and/or fines

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following best describes how the Founders decided to deal with the question of national versus state power in the U.S. Constitution?

A) The Constitution clearly and overwhelmingly gives power to the national government.
B) The Constitution clearly and overwhelmingly gives power to the state governments.
C) The Constitution says nothing, but the Supreme Court solved the issue in Marbury v. Madison (1803).
D) The Constitution establishes that the powers of state governments and the powers of national governments should not overlap.
E) The Constitution leaves these questions for future generations to decide.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Suppose Congress decided it was unnecessary to have two Carolinas (North and South), two Dakotas (North and South), and both a Virginia and West Virginia. Could Congress pass a law changing these six states into only three states (Carolina, Dakota, and Virginia, respectively)?

A) Yes. As the higher level of government, Congress has the right to create and abolish state boundaries and governments.
B) Yes. As the level of government with more authority and power, Congress can make such a decision if it can show that the unification of these states would be beneficial to the entire country.
C) Yes. Since state governments are subnational governments, the national government (Congress) can redraw state boundaries as necessary.
D) No. States have constitutionally protected status and cannot be abolished unilaterally by the central government.
E) No. Congress cannot redraw state boundaries but the Supreme Court could rule in favor of redistricting and force the states to redraw their boundaries.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

As the national government has grown stronger over time, the system has come to resemble ________.

A) a layer cake; because each level of government, national and state, is sovereign in its own sphere and operates largely independently of the others
B) a layer cake; because in many policy areas, the national and state governments cooperate or share resources
C) a marble cake; because in many policy areas, the national and state governments cooperate or share resources
D) a marble cake; because each level of government, national and state, is sovereign in its own sphere and operates largely independently of the others
E) a marble cake; because federal or state jurisdiction over policy areas is in flux and depends on the solutions offered by the respective governments.

Question 5

Throughout the twentieth century, federalism questions were most often decided in favor of ________.

A) greater power for state governments
B) greater power for the national government
C) greater intergovernmentalism
D) greater balance between the national and state governments
E) greater power for the people

Question 6

Which institution has historically played the primary role in refereeing conflicts over the relative scope of federal and state powers under the U.S. Constitution?

A) the president
B) the United States House of Representatives
C) the Supreme Court
D) the United States Senate
E) the National Council of State Legislatures

Question 7

Which term indicates a political system with multiple levels of government that have independent constitutional authority over some important policy areas?

A) federalism
B) confederation
C) intergovernmentalism
D) unitary system
E) internationalism

Question 8

A political system in which both levels of government-national and state-are active in nearly all areas of policy activity and share sovereign authority is ________.

A) dual federalism
B) cooperative federalism
C) direct democracy
D) representative democracy
E) intergovernmentalism

Question 9

In 1991 after the disbanding of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was founded between the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. This system of governance allowed for the addition of new member states after their ratification of the CIS Charter, as well as the protection of human rights and free trade within the uniting states. What constitutional arrangement does this most clearly represent?

A) federalism
B) unitary system
C) internationalism
D) commonwealth
E) confederation

Question 10

When do central governments often gain power and become either confederated or federated?

A) when the subunits face collective dilemmas they cannot overcome
B) when a revolution occurs, overthrowing a monarch
C) when factions form, leading to disagreements among constituents
D) when a dictator assumes authority and compels subunit governments to give up power
E) when states fail to pay their taxes owed to the national government

Question 11

In Belgium, citizens in constitutionally defined regions elect separate governments to control public policies, as well as a single national government that controls other policies, such as trade and national defense. What does this constitutional arrangement most clearly represent?

A) confederal system
B) municipal government
C) divided government
D) unitary system
E) federal system

Question 12

Which constitutional arrangement most clearly balances the desire to maintain regional autonomy with the need to ensure effective national governance over areas like national security?

A) national system
B) unitary system
C) confederal system
D) federal system
E) international system

Question 13

What is a distinguishing characteristic of dual federalism in contrast to cooperative federalism, and what is an example of a policy area that relies on dual federalism in the U.S.?

A) Dual federalism relies on multiple branches of the federal government to enact laws and enforce laws. Dual federalism is represented in the U.S. by the relationship between the legislative and executive branches.
B) Dual federalism separates sovereignty between national and subunit governments, and the two levels of government operate largely independent of each other. This is exemplified in the U.S. by immigration policy where the federal government has jurisdiction over gun control policy and state laws regarding gun control must conform to national standards.
C) Dual federalism separates sovereignty between national and subunit governments, the two levels of government operate largely independent of each other. This is exemplified by education policy where the federal government has jurisdiction and states must conform to national law.
D) Dual federalism relies on multiple branches of the federal government to enact laws and uphold laws. This is represented in the U.S. by the relationship between the legislative and judicial branches.
E) Dual federalism is where state and national governments are active in all spheres, working together in nearly all policy areas. This is exemplified in the U.S. by Medicare policy where federal and state funding combine forces to provide healthcare for elderly citizens.

Question 14

In education policy, the national and state governments often cooperate or share resources. For example, Congress may mandate certain educational standards, while local governments operate the daily function of schools. What is this an example of?

A) dual federalism
B) cooperative federalism
C) intergovernmentalism
D) cooperationism
E) interventionism

Question 15

A political system in which each level of government-national and state-is sovereign in its own spheres of policy authority is ________.

A) dual federalism
B) cooperative federalism
C) direct democracy
D) representative democracy
E) intergovernmentalism

Question 16

Why was the Civil War an important event in the development of the American political system?

A) It revealed how differently the North and South interpreted the Constitution when it came to the relationship between the states and the federal government.
B) The leaders of the Confederacy relied on a view of American federalism that held that the country was created by agreement among sovereign states.
C) The leaders of the Union believed the Constitution meant the United States is a sovereign country, and the preamble declared that "the people" had created an indissoluble union.
D) It allowed for the establishment of the Confederate States of America which challenged the previously dominant federal system under the U.S. Constitution.
E) It settled the issues of secession and slavery, and allowed the North and the South to align their views on the jurisdiction of national and state governments-an alignment which has continued ever since.

Question 17

Which of the following is a distinguishing characteristic of federalism in contrast to the confederal system?

A) Subunit governments retain full sovereignty.
B) The national government cannot compel subunit governments to act.
C) United action requires voluntary compliance.
D) Subunit governments face serious collective action problems that inhibit them from achieving the common good.
E) Subunit governments have constitutionally protected status.

Question 18

In the United States, the central government is typically charged with creating and enforcing environmental regulations. What is the principal advantage of having central control rather than state control over environmental policy?

A) Central control allows national experts to create policies that most effectively match the diverse needs and circumstances of the states.
B) Central control maximizes the ability of ordinary citizens to interact with policy makers.
C) Central control allows citizens to have access to institutions of direct democracy, like the ballot initiative, to reform regulations with which they are unsatisfied.
D) Central control minimizes the economic impact of environmental policies.
E) Central control allows states to avoid problems of coordination and enforcement that might otherwise prevent the effective regulation of environmental quality.

Question 19

Which of the following is a law or policy probably handled exclusively by the federal government?

A) voter identification laws
B) business regulation policy
C) an initiative to increase high school graduation rates
D) reforming healthcare laws to be more inclusive
E) trade negotiations with the UK

Question 20

Difficulty in coordinating action among the states under the Articles of Confederation led to important problems for regulating the national economy and ensuring national security. This led the framers of the U.S. Constitution to abandon the ________ system created by the Articles of Confederation in favor of a ________ system under the Constitution.

A) unitary/federal
B) federal/unitary
C) unitary/confederal
D) confederal/federal
E) federal/confederal

Question 21

The decision in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) was significant in its broad interpretation of Congress' power regarding which part of the Constitution?

A) the elastic clause
B) the commerce clause
C) the supremacy clause
D) the First Amendment
E) the Three-Fifths Compromise

Question 22

In an effort to improve standardized testing scores in math and natural sciences, the federal government authorizes the Department of Education to make grants to local school districts to fund advanced training for high school teachers with established records of success teaching in relevant fields. How would this program best be characterized?

A) grants-in-aid
B) categorical grant
C) block grant
D) matching grant
E) transfer

Question 23

The decisions in the court cases of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) can best be described as decisions that favored what group?

A) the U.S. national government
B) state governments
C) local businesses
D) the federal bureaucracy
E) interest groups

Question 24

What does the Fourteenth Amendment do?

A) It guarantees women the right to vote.
B) It mandates that the United States and each state provide all citizens with equal protection and due process.
C) It prohibits the federal government from assuming powers preserved for the states.
D) It authorizes the federal government to tax income.
E) It prohibits slavery.

Question 25

The general phrasing and broad interpretations of the commerce clause have led to the expansion in power of which branch of government?

A) executive
B) judicial
C) municipal
D) legislative
E) state

Question 26

The U.S. Congress passes a law on the regulation of Internet piracy, a concept that the framers obviously could not have conceived of. How does Congress justify their ability to pass a law like this?

A) The supremacy clause gives Congress the power to pass legislation that applies nationally and nullifies any contradicting state laws. Given the need of nation-wide policy on Internet piracy, Congress is the best actor in this case.
B) The Tenth Amendment allows the federal government to assume powers not allocated to the states. As Internet piracy could not have been mandated in the Constitution, the federal government has jurisdiction.
C) The elastic clause, or the "necessary and proper" clause, allows Congress to pass laws that are necessary and proper to the continuation of the republic.
D) The Supreme Court gave Congress this right in the decision Cox v. McCubbins (1797).
E) The Third Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. However, because Internet piracy is a federal crime, Congress has the ability to permit justified search and seizure to protect the intellectual property of online resources.

Question 27

On balance, patterns of increasing intergovernmental transfers from the federal government to the state governments are most likely to ________.

A) increase the power of state governments by increasing the fiscal resources at their disposal
B) increase the power of the national government by increasing states' dependence on federal funds
C) decrease the power of government at both the state and the federal level by increasing fiscal interdependence
D) decrease the power of state governments by institutionalizing dual federalism
E) preserve the existing balance of power between the states and the federal government

Question 28

Which constitutional change most clearly shifted the balance of power toward the federal government and away from the states in the American federal system?

A) Fourteenth Amendment, which allows the federal government to collect income taxes
B) Nineteenth Amendment, which establishes women's voting rights
C) Twenty-Second Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms
D) Twenty-Third Amendment, which allows the District of Columbia to participate in the electoral college
E) Twenty-Sixth Amendment, which establishes voting rights for eighteen- to twenty-year-olds

Question 29

Which of the following eras was most renowned for centralizing power in the federal government and establishing of numerous federal agencies designed to regulate business and monopolies?

A) Progressive Era
B) The Great Depression
C) New Deal Era
D) Great Society Era
E) Post 9/11 Era

Question 30

What is the content and significance of the Tenth Amendment?

A) It states that no powers in the constitution shall be construed to disparage the rights of the people. It prevents the federal government from claiming unreasonable power over its citizens. Most recently, it has protected citizens from unchecked surveillance of their personal lives.
B) It states that no powers in the constitution shall be construed to disparage the rights of the people. It has been used as grounds for many successful voting rights movements in the past, including the enfranchisement of women in the Nineteenth Amendment.
C) It states that all powers not enumerated to the federal government will be reserved for the states. It was integral for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in assuaging the fears of the Anti-Federalists who believed the power of the federal government would lead to an abuse of power over the states and people.
D) It guarantees citizens protection from unreasonable search and seizure. This amendment has upheld the rights of accused criminals in numerous court cases since its establishment.
E) It states that all powers not enumerated to the federal government will be reserved for the states. It prevented the growth of the federal government in the twentieth century.

Question 31

Which funding type is the federal government most likely to use in order to extend its power over state governments?

A) national security funding
B) block grants
C) revenue sharing programs
D) categorical grants
E) unfunded mandates

Question 32

Categorical grants, block grants, and other kinds of intergovernmental financial transfers are most indicative of which set of systemic arrangements?

A) direct democracy
B) representative democracy
C) dual federalism
D) cooperative federalism
E) separation of powers

Question 33

What does the elastic clause of the U.S. Constitution do?

A) It provides that Congress shall have the power to enact all legislation that is "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated powers.
B) It declares that state laws must conform to the federal constitution.
C) It provides that all powers not enumerated to the federal government in the Constitution will be given to the states.
D) It provides that the federal government has power to try criminals who have committed crimes across multiple state boundaries.
E) It allows states to leave the union as long as they may demonstrate just cause.

Question 34

Broadly speaking, what was the effect of the 2013 Supreme Court decision Shelby Co. v. Holder?

A) The Court ruled that Obama's signature healthcare law violated the commerce clause of the Constitution, protecting individuals and states from adhering to the law, thus limiting federal power.
B) The ruling expanded federal power by extending the commerce clause to include the national government's authority to restrict gun laws.
C) The Court used the necessary and proper clause to rule that Congress could establish a national bank.
D) By invalidating parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Court freed some states with histories of racial discrimination from federal oversight in elections.
E) The ruling limited the power of the national government by establishing a precedent that Congress could not regulate commerce between states.

Question 35

Which term denotes money that is distributed to lower-level governments with the purpose of funding special projects?

A) grants-in-aid
B) categorical grants
C) block grants
D) matching grants
E) revenue sharing

Question 36

Which of the following resulted from the implementation of the Sixteenth Amendment, which gave the United States federal government the ability to tax income?

A) The federal government became more responsible for the overall health of the economy, bringing about the establishment of welfare programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
B) The state governments increased their power relative to the federal government.
C) The federal government increased its power relative to state governments.
D) A movement sprung up to overturn the Amendment, spearheaded by the Progressives.
E) Income tax fell under the jurisdiction of both state and federal governments, making it an example of intergovernmentalism.

Question 37

Which of the following types of grants are most favored by state governments because of the flexibility that comes with their receipt?

A) grants-in-aid
B) categorical grant
C) block grant
D) FDA grant
E) Pell grant

Question 38

The ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment ________.

A) prohibited slavery
B) quickly established the social and political equality of former slaves in the South
C) prevented former Confederate states from adopting laws that discriminated against African Americans
D) eventually provided a constitutional basis for the federal government to eliminate legal segregation in the South
E) has had few consequences for the development of American federalism

Question 39

The Missouri Compromise was a Congressional action that mandated whether states entering the Union would permit slavery. Any state north of the 36^o 30' latitude line-except for Missouri-would not permit slavery. What was the significance of this action?

A) The federal action inflamed the South's emphasis on state rights and ushered the U.S. immediately into the Civil War.
B) The Missouri Compromise is an example of federal intervention that created a sustainable solution to disputes between states, a power which is granted to Congress through the "elastic clause" in the Constitution.
C) The Missouri Compromise lasted a contentious thirty-four years before being repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The federal intervention exacerbated an entrenched cleavage that existed in the federated U.S.
D) The Missouri Compromise was overturned by the Matthews v. Zane (1822) Supreme Court decision delving the North and South into further controversy regarding state rights and slavery.
E) The Missouri Compromise tarnished Monroe's Presidency and led to the election of John Quincy Adams, a federalist, who continued the movement of power from the states to the federal government.

Question 40

Suppose the State of New York refused to abide by the Supreme Court's decision in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) and put in place a highly restrictive handgun ban. What recourse would the Supreme Court have to stop New York from implementing this law?

A) They could force the U.S. Congress to pass a law banning New York's actions.
B) They could ask the U.S. Secret Service to become involved in the proceedings.
C) They could force the president to file an executive order to stop the law.
D) They could send the Justice Department to Albany to stop the law from being implemented.
E) Nothing. The Court has no means to force compliance, so must rely on other branches to act.

Question 41

What distinguishes a ballot initiative from a referendum?

A) Nothing. The terms are interchangeable.
B) A ballot initiative is financed by private citizens or organizations. A referendum is financed by the state.
C) A referendum is used to consider constitutional questions. A ballot initiative is used for ordinary legislation.
D) A ballot initiative is used to consider changes to federal law. A referendum is used to consider changes in state law.
E) A referendum considers legislation proposed by a legislature. A ballot initiative considers legislation proposed directly by citizens.

Question 42

How are state and national elections most similar?

A) In both cases, electoral districts must be drawn to represent populations of equal size.
B) In both cases, citizens elect officers like the secretary of state and attorneys general.
C) In both cases, citizens vote directly on laws through referendums or ballot initiatives.
D) In both cases, citizens vote to recall elected officials.
E) In both cases, citizens elect representatives who work full-time and year-round.

Question 43

Which is true of a state that has home rule as part of its constitution?

A) The federal government is forbidden from interfering with state-level decision making.
B) The state government is not bound by international treaties.
C) Major cities can make international trade agreements.
D) Local governments have wide authority.
E) State governments are forbidden from interfering in local decision making.

Question 44

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which regulates transportation, commercial interaction, and water management in both states, is an example of ________.

A) a governing body regulated by Congress as permitted by the commerce clause
B) a joint-municipal government
C) regional government
D) a commission
E) a Department of the Interior

Question 45

What are examples of processes of direct democracy, and to what level of government do they pertain?

A) Referenda, ballot initiatives, and recall elections: state government
B) Referenda, ballot initiatives, and recall elections: federal government
C) Referenda, ballot initiatives, and recall elections: both state and federal government
D) Presidential elections, congressional elections, gerrymandering: state government
E) Presidential elections, congressional elections, gerrymandering: federal government

Question 46

Historically, how has the American political system responded to large economic and military crises?

A) rejecting centralized decision making and enhancing the power of state governments
B) embracing centralized decision making and increasing the power of the national government
C) surrendering national sovereignty and turning over authority to international organizations
D) becoming skeptical of democracy and eliminating institutions of direct democracy in the states
E) becoming hostile to government in general and imposing constitutional restrictions on government activity at all levels

Question 47

Which practice would be prohibited by the Supreme Court's decisions in Baker v. Carr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)?

A) allowing a governor to appoint an attorney general rather than having that office filled by a separate election
B) requiring potential voters to register in advance to cast a ballot in a particular election
C) allowing each county in a state to elect only one representative to the state senate regardless of its population
D) permitting municipalities to annex new territory without the consent of residents of the newly added area
E) prohibiting cities from operating without an elected mayor

Question 48

Which Supreme Court decisions require that different electoral districts represent similarly sized populations? What was an immediate result of these rulings?

A) Baker v. Carr and Gibbons v. Ogden: rural regions had a dramatic increase in their representation in state legislatures
B) United States v. Lopez and Wesberry v. Sanders: gerrymandering became a common and contentious partisan debate
C) Baker v. Carr and Wesberry v. Sanders: cities had a dramatic increase in their representation in state legislatures
D) Wesberry v. Sanders and Gibbons v. Ogden: gerrymandering became a common and contentious partisan debate
E) United States v. Lopez and Gibbons v. Ogden: cities had a dramatic increase in their representation in state legislatures

Question 49

If a local government wants to be more autonomous, what should it do?

A) ask the courts to apply Dillon's Rule
B) create a council-manager system
C) encourage state government to adopt or maintain home rule
D) create a special district
E) hold a referendum

Question 50

Which policy area is most clearly a reserved power of the state governments under the U.S. Constitution?

A) emissions regulation
B) national defense
C) coining money
D) taxation
E) economic regulation

Question 51

Which term indicates the constitutional or legal authority held by local governments that allow them to govern themselves with little or no interference from the state?

A) Dillon's Rule
B) home rule
C) intergovernmentalism
D) dual federalism
E) cooperative federalism

Question 52

Which form of local government most closely mirrors U.S. national government?

A) city councils
B) mayoral
C) council-manager
D) school boards
E) school superintendent

Question 53

Which of these systems shares power most between state and national units?

A) autocracy
B) unitary government
C) federalist government
D) totalitarianism
E) international governing organizations

Question 54

Federal systems ________ national power relative to confederal systems, which allows them to exercise ________ control over tax policies.

A) decrease; greater
B) increase; no
C) change; absolute
D) increase; greater
E) inhibit; less

Question 55

According to numerous studies, what is the relationship between local government elections and racial minorities' representation?

A) At-large election rules, which require city council members to be elected by the city as a whole, rather than by district, led to councils with fewer racial minorities.
B) At-large election rules, which require city council members to be elected by the city as a whole, rather than by district, led to councils with greater racial minorities.
C) Recall elections in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in the U.S. led to offices with greater racial minorities than the normal election cycles.
D) Recall elections in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in the U.S. led to offices with fewer racial minorities than the normal election cycles.
E) Since the Supreme Court decisions Baker v. Carr and Wesberry v. Sanders, the increased voting rights of racial minorities have been decreased dramatically.This has led to offices with fewer racial minorities.

Question 56

Which form of local government is essentially a local version of a separation of powers system?

A) mayoral
B) council-manager
C) commission
D) special district
E) county

Question 57

In a unitary system of government, ________.

A) the national government has legal control over local government
B) confederal states select one national executive
C) local governments only have one legislative house
D) federal governments only have one legislative house
E) a strong federal system exists because of a pre-existing shared sense of national identity

Question 58

The relationship between state governments and municipal governments under the principle of Dillon's Rule most nearly reflects which constitutional relationship between national and state governments?

A) federalism
B) confederation
C) intergovernmentalism
D) unitary system
E) internationalism

Question 59

Denmark is a small nation in terms of both its population and land mass. Also, Denmark's population has historically been very homogeneous. On the basis of this information, which governing system is most likely to be in operation in Denmark?

A) federalism
B) confederation
C) intergovernmentalism
D) unitary system
E) internationalism

Question 60

Which term indicates a political system in which the national government holds ultimate authority over all areas of policy and over all actions of subunit governments? What is an example of this system of governance?

A) federalism: Mexico, United States
B) confederation: Commonwealth of Independent States
C) intergovernmentalism: European Union
D) unitary system: Japan, France
E) internationalism: United Nations

Question 61

How can the relative levels of taxes impact relationships between states?

A) generate federal government jobs
B) increase competition among cities and states
C) lower budgets
D) decrease public funding
E) increase the Supreme Court's power

Question 62

Some policy analysts have shown that states and cities that enact relatively high taxes to pay for extensive social programs ________.

A) are often successful at addressing social problems that are not effectively managed at the federal level
B) force surrounding states and cities to adopt similar policies as a result of coordination problems
C) are most successful at attracting federal block grants
D) lose wealthy residents and businesses to lower-tax states and cities, leaving social programs underfunded
E) usually do so through institutions of direct democracy, such as the ballot initiative

Question 63

Which of the following is an example of a negative externality?

A) increased sales of generic food items
B) increased water pollution from a factory in another state
C) river walks along the Mississippi river
D) clean air from new coal technologies
E) increased charitable contributions from tax rate changes

Question 64

Compare and contrast systems of dual federalism and cooperative federalism. Identify a policy domain in which federal and state authority are substantially divided. Identify a policy domain in which federal and state authority substantially overlap. Overall, which system is more nearly represented by the relationship between the federal government and the states in contemporary American politics? Why?

Question 65

Historically, some states have taken advantage of their sovereign discretion under institutions of federalism to discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities despite constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. How does federalism enable this sort of abuse? What institutions and political dynamics support legal discrimination at the state level in the American federal system? What political forces ultimately enabled the national government to end legal discrimination in these states?

Question 66

Suppose California adopts environmental rules that permit manufacturers to emit more pollutants into the air, which affects air quality in Nevada and other neighboring states. This is an example of a/an ________.

A) intergovernmental transfer
B) coordination problem
C) optimal response
D) unitary system
E) negative externality

Question 67

Which of the following best describes an example of how the federal government could delegate more discretion to state governments?

A) institute a nationwide speed limit
B) institute plans that allow Medicare policies to vary
C) make block grants contingent on a specified drinking age
D) nationalize state army reserve systems
E) implement Supreme Court decisions uniformly

Question 68

Federalism allows the state laws to vary based on citizens' interests. Why might this diversity be in the interest of the national government?

A) The national government has no interest in state prosperity, therefore the states are free to exercise whatever rights they choose.
B) The needs of states vary widely, and allowing laws to reflect this increases citizen satisfaction.
C) States make relatively few unique laws, so there is no need for the federal government to enforce their rules.
D) Citizens only pay taxes to the federal government, so the federal government receives revenue no matter what state laws exist.
E) State laws are actually relatively equal, so any diversity in interests does not show up in state laws.

Question 69

Which of the following problems is addressed by implementing federalist practices?

A) collective action problems
B) making war
C) international treaties
D) coining money
E) impeaching the president

Question 70

In what ways does federalism permit state governments to resolve problems of collective action? To what extent do some types of coordination problems still exist among the American states? What are their effects?

Question 71

Describe the historical evolution of federalism in the United States from the Progressive Era through the post-9/11 period. What events motivated changes in the scope of federal power in the United States? What contemporary circumstances seem most likely to influence the relationship between state and federal power? How is federalism likely to continue to evolve over the next two decades?

Question 72

Some economists have argued that federalism leads states to offer more efficient mixes of taxes and services due to ________.

A) favorable economies of scale at the state level
B) accurate information about local conditions
C) market forces arising from interstate competition for residents and businesses
D) the ability of states to function as "laboratories of democracy"
E) states' shared responsibilities in some important policy areas

Question 73

After careful consideration, the Department of Education decides to allow states to select their own means of testing their students. This is an example of ________.

A) intersectionality
B) incrementalism
C) Pareto optimality
D) federalism
E) testing bias

Question 74

What did former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis refer to as "laboratories of democracy"?

A) the ability of state governments to establish universities and research centers
B) the presence of institutions of direct democracy in many states
C) state governments' ability to experiment with new policy solutions that may not have been adopted elsewhere
D) the absence of historical precedent for the establishment of federalism in the U.S. Constitution
E) the constitutional requirement that each state have a republican form of government

Question 75

Marijuana consumption is illegal on the federal level, yet states such as Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska have passed ballot initiatives that allow the commercialization of recreational marijuana. How are these state laws upheld given the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution?

A) The executive branch is constitutionally charged with enforcing the laws passed by Congress, although in this case has cited "executive discretion"-a decision to not enforce the federal law and allow states with popularly approved ballot initiative to have recreational marijuana.
B) The supremacy clause does not apply to drug laws. Instead, jurisdiction has been subsumed by the Drug Enforcement Administration, an agency of the executive branch.
C) The ballot initiatives that allow commercialization of recreational marijuana in the four states are pending approval by the Supreme Court.
D) The U.S. Congress has given these states special exemptions to the supremacy clause.
E) The president has used executive orders to limit the reach of the supremacy clause.

Question 76

Which of these is NOT an example of an agency that furthers cooperation between national and state governments?

A) Department of Homeland Security
B) Department of Education
C) Department of Transportation
D) Department of Defense
E) Department of Agriculture

Question 77

What are the costs and benefits of federalism? How might the United States benefit by providing even greater autonomy to the states? In what ways might such a shift yield negative consequences? How might the United States benefit by providing even greater authority to the national government? In what ways might such a shift yield negative consequences?

Question 78

Because of coordination problems inherent in intergovernmentalism, what types of situations lead many to argue that the U.S. should sometimes rely on a system characterized by more direct hierarchy and less division of responsibility?

A) fierce disagreements between states on marriage
B) emergency responses to natural disasters
C) conflicts between localities within states on how to best educate students
D) how to spend surpluses in state budgets
E) solving trade issues between states