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| A way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people. It is a system of shared power between units of government. |
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| A way of organizing a nation so that all power resides in the central government. Most governments today are unitary governments. |
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| Intergovernmental relations |
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| The workings of the federal system - the entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments. |
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| Article VI of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits. |
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| The constitutional amendment stating that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." |
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| An 1819 Supreme Court decision that established the supremacy of the national government over state governments. In deciding this case, Chief Justice John Marshall and his colleagues held that Congress had certain implied powers in addition to the enumerated powers found in the Constitution. |
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| Powers of the federal government that are specifically addressed in the Constitution; for Congress, these powers are listed in Article I, Section 8, and include the power to coin money, regulate its value, and impose taxes. |
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| Powers of the federal government that go beyond those enumerated in the Constitution. The Constitution states that Congress has the power to "make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution" the powers enumerated in Article I. |
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| The final paragraph of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which authorizes Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers. |
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| A landmark case decided in 1824 in which the Supreme Court interpreted very broadly the clause in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution giving Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, encompassing virtually every form of commercial activity. |
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| Full faith and credit clause |
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| A clause in Article IV, Section I, of the Constitution requiring each state to recognize the official documents and civil judgements rendered by the courts of other states. |
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| A legal process whereby and alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one state to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed. |
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| Privileges and immunities |
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| A clause in Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution according citizens of each state most of the privileges of citizens of other states. |
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| A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some polices. |
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| A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government. They may also share costs, administrations, and even blame for programs that work poorly. |
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| The pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system; it is the cornerstone of the national government's relations with state and local governments. |
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| Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions. Compare block grants. |
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| Federal categorical grants given for specific purposes and awarded on the basis of the merits of application. |
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| Federal categorical grants distributed according to a formula specified in legislation or in administrative regulations. |
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| Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services. |
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