45

A cultivator in Denver,

Colorado, harvests

marijuana plants.

In 2012, citizens

of Colorado and

Washington voted to

legalize and tax the

recreational use of

marijuana, but the drug

remains illegal under

federal law. What do

you think will happen?

(Kathryn Scott Osler/

The Denver Post via

Getty Images)

Learning OutcOmes

The five Learning Outcomes (LOs) below are designed to help improve your

understanding of this chapter. After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

◾   LO1 Explain some of the benefits of the federal system

for the United States.

◾   LO2 Describe how the various provisions of the U.S.

Constitution provide a framework for federalism.

◾   LO3 Discuss how, in the early years of the republic, the

United States Supreme Court confirmed the authority of the

national government, and how that authority was ratified by

the Civil War.

3

Federalism

◾   LO4 Define the terms dual federalism, cooperative

federalism, categorical grants, block grants, and fiscal

federalism.

◾   LO5 Detail recent Supreme Court rulings that affect the

distribution of power between the national government and

the states.

Check your understanding of the material with the Test Yourself section at

the end of the chapter.

In the United States, rights and powers are reserved to the

states by the Tenth Amendment. It may appear to some that since Barack Obama became

president in 2009, the federal government, sometimes called the national or central gov­

ernment, has predominated. Nevertheless, that might be an exaggerated perception, for

there are 89,528 separate governmental units in this nation.

Visitors from France or Spain are often awestruck by the complexity of our system

of government. Consider that a criminal action can be defined by state law, by national

law, or by both. Thus, a criminal suspect can be prosecuted in the state court system or

in the federal court system (or both). Often, economic regulation covering exactly the

same issues exists at the local level, the state level, and the national level—generating

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