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1. Explain the difference between federal and centralized systems of government, andgive examples of each.

A centralized government is one where one body makes all the important decisionsand handles all the responsibilities for the nation (or state). On the other hand, thefederal government shares the power between the national and state governments.

England had a centralized government because they didn't believe that commonpeople would be able to govern themselves. Our own U.S. government is a federalgovernment.

2. Show how competing political interests at the Constitutional Convention led to theadoption of a federal system, but one that was not clearly defined.

The purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to make changes to the Articlesof Confederation. However, the delegates were at dissent on many ideas. For one,the Virginia Plan called for a strong national government while the New Jersey Planwanted to limit federal powers and enlarge plans held by the Continental Congress.

In the end, they came up with the Connecticut Compromise, which stated thatrepresentation in the HOR would be based on population while each state would beguaranteed an equal two senators in the new Senate. They also came up with theidea of federalism, so that both states and the national government would sharepower, although at the time it was not discussed who would have more of thepower.

3. Outline the ways in which the courts interpreted national and state powers and whythe doctrine of dual federalism is still alive.

In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts have the

duty to review the constitutionality of acts of Congress and to declare them voidwhen they are contrary to the Constitution. Marbury was the first Supreme Courtcase to strike down an act of Congress as unconstitutional. Dual federalism holdsthat states and the federal government are co-equal in the federal system, and thatthe structure of government is a kind of layer cake.

4. State why federal grants-in-aid to the states have been politically popular, and citewhat have proved to be the pitfalls of such grants.

Federal grants-in-aids to states have been politically popular because of theelection funds needed each year. The pitfalls of these grants are that in accepting

them, states are submitting to the national government and feel indebted to paythem back in some way. In other words, the national government is taking morepower from the states.

5. Distinguish between categorical grants and block grants or general revenuesharing.

Categorical grants are grants, issued by Congress, which may be spent only fornarrowly-defined purposes. They are the main source of federal aid to state and

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local government , which can only be used for specific purposes and for helpingeducation, or categories of state and local spending. A block grant is a large sum ofmoney granted by the national government to a regional government with onlygeneral provisions as to the way it is to be spent. They allow regional governmentsto experiment with different ways of spending money with the same goal in mind.Under revenue sharing, Congress gave an annual amount of federal tax revenue to

the states and their cities. While it was popular with state officials, it lost federalsupport during the Reagan administration.

6. Explain why, despite repeated attempts to reverse the trend, categorical grantshave continued to grow more rapidly than block grants.

As opposed to categorical grants, Congress did not significantly increase theexpenditures for block grants, national influence was was increased by creatinghealth programs that could potentially have been made part of the block grant, andthe block grant did not generally result in a reordering of spending priorities.

7. Distinguish between mandates and conditions of aid with respect to federal grantprograms to states and localities.

A grant usually comes with no cost to the state, while a mandate does. It helps ifthe state doesn't pass laws that override federal laws.

8. Define devolution and its roots.

Devolution is the effort to transfer responsibility for many public programs andservices from the federal government to the states. Some of the roots include theattainment of a majority by the Republican Party in both the House and Senate after

the 1994 midterm elections, the suburbanization of America, and the spread ofdisillusionment with the federal government .

9. Discuss whether or to what extent federal grants to the states have succeeded increating uniform national policies comparable to those of centralized governments.

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