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#Federalism

75 entries

Departments (17)
Administration for Children and Families Reorganizing
The HHS division that runs TANF, Head Start, child care, child support, foster care, and refugee resettlement programs
Administration for Community Living Reorganizing
The HHS agency that funds services helping older adults and people with disabilities live in their own homes and communities
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The oldest bureau in the Interior Department, carrying out the federal government's trust and treaty obligations to tribal nations
DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis Reorganizing
The Homeland Security intelligence office that shares threat information with state, local, tribal, and private partners
Employment and Training Administration
The Labor Department agency that oversees unemployment insurance, job training, apprenticeships, Job Corps, and foreign labor certification
Federal Transit Administration
The Transportation Department agency that funds and oversees the safety of local bus, subway, light rail, and ferry systems
National Guard Bureau
The federal office that links the states' National Guard forces to the Army, the Air Force, and the Pentagon
Natural Resources Conservation Service
The USDA agency born of the Dust Bowl that helps farmers and ranchers conserve soil, water, and habitat on private land
Office of Community Planning and Development
The HUD office that runs Community Development Block Grants, HOME, disaster recovery grants, and homelessness programs
Office of Public and Indian Housing
The HUD office that funds public housing, Housing Choice Vouchers, and tribal housing
Office of Special Education Programs Reorganizing
The Education Department office that administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
The Interior Department agency that regulates coal mining's effects on land and water and funds cleanup of abandoned mines
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Reorganizing
The HHS agency that funds state and local mental health and addiction services and oversees the 988 crisis line
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The agency that pays for health care for 160 million Americans and spends more than any other part of the government
The Department of Education Reorganizing
Student loans and grants, aid to low-income schools and students with disabilities, civil rights enforcement, and education statistics
The Federal Emergency Management Agency Reorganizing
The agency that coordinates the federal response to disasters and pays for much of the recovery
The Federal Highway Administration
The agency that funds the interstates and the 1 million miles of federal-aid roads that states build and maintain
Agencies (10)
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
The independent federal agency that oversees Section 106 review, the process requiring federal projects to consider their effects on historic places
AmeriCorps Reorganizing
The federal agency for national service that funds stipended members and senior volunteers working in American communities
Appalachian Regional Commission
The federal-state partnership that funds economic development across 13 Appalachian states, from New York to Mississippi
Election Assistance Commission
The bipartisan independent commission that certifies voting systems, distributes election grants, and maintains the national voter registration form
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The independent commission that regulates interstate electricity transmission, wholesale power markets, natural gas pipelines, and hydropower dams
Institute of Museum and Library Services Reorganizing
The independent agency that is the main federal funder of the nation's public libraries and museums
National Capital Planning Commission
The federal planning agency that reviews federal construction and land use in Washington, D.C., and the surrounding region
National Endowment for the Arts
The independent agency that funds arts organizations, state arts agencies, and arts education across the country
National Endowment for the Humanities Reorganizing
The independent agency that funds research, education, preservation, and public programs in history, literature, and philosophy
The Environmental Protection Agency Reorganizing
The regulator of air, water, chemicals, pesticides, and hazardous waste
Offices & Roles (1)
Delegates and the Resident Commissioner
The six nonvoting members of the House who represent the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and four U.S. territories, with power to serve on committees but not to vote on final passage of bills
Processes (6)
Disaster Declarations
How a governor's request and a President's signature release federal aid after hurricanes, floods, fires, and other disasters
Federal Grants to States
The more than $1 trillion a year that the federal government sends to state and local governments for health care, transportation, education, and other programs, and the conditions attached
Federal Jurisdiction
The limits on which cases federal courts may hear, set by Article III and by Congress, including federal question and diversity cases, and Congress's power to expand or restrict them
Posse Comitatus and Domestic Deployment
The 1878 law barring federal troops from civilian law enforcement, its exceptions, the National Guard's role, and the 2025 deployments to American cities
The Electoral College
How Americans actually choose a President: 538 electors, 270 to win, and the state-by-state rules behind them
Voter Registration and Eligibility
Who may vote in U.S. elections, how the right expanded through constitutional amendments and federal laws, and how states register voters and maintain voter rolls
Principles (18)
Dual vs. Cooperative Federalism
Two models of how national and state governments share power: separate spheres, like a layer cake, or intertwined programs, like a marble cake
Enumerated and Implied Powers
A federal government of limited, listed powers, and the clauses that have allowed those powers to grow
Federal Preemption
When federal law overrides state law, and the three ways it happens
Federalism
How power is divided between the national government and the states, and how that balance has shifted
Full Faith and Credit
The Article IV requirement that each state respect the public acts, records, and court judgments of every other state
Home Rule
The authority of cities and counties to govern their own local affairs, granted by state constitutions and laws, as opposed to Dillon's Rule, and its special form in Washington, D.C.
Interstate Compacts
Binding agreements between states, often approved by Congress, that create shared agencies and rules for rivers, ports, transit, licensing, and other cross-border matters
Nullification
The theory that a state may declare a federal law unconstitutional and void within its borders, tested in the 1832 crisis and consistently rejected by the courts
Reserved and Concurrent Powers
How the Constitution divides authority: powers delegated to the national government, powers reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment, and powers both may exercise
States' Rights
The political and constitutional argument that states hold powers the federal government may not override, invoked across American history for very different causes
The Commerce Clause
Congress's power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with Indian tribes, the basis for much of modern federal law
The Guarantee Clause
The Article IV promise that the United States will guarantee every state a republican form of government and protect each against invasion and domestic violence
The Necessary and Proper Clause
The final clause of Congress's enumerated powers, which lets Congress pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out its other powers, the source of most implied federal power
The Supremacy Clause
The provision of Article VI making the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties the supreme law of the land, binding on state judges and overriding conflicting state law
The Taxing and Spending Power
Congress's power under Article I to lay taxes and spend for the common defense and general welfare, including the authority to attach conditions to federal funds
The Tenth Amendment in Practice
How courts have applied the Tenth Amendment, from a truism in 1941 to the anti-commandeering doctrine that today shapes sanctuary policies, sports betting, and federal programs
Tribal Sovereignty
The inherent self-government of Native nations, the third sovereign in the American system
Unfunded Mandates
Federal requirements that state and local governments must carry out without federal money to pay for them, and the 1995 law meant to limit them
Documents & Cases (14)
Article IV: The States
The article that governs relations among the states and between the states and the national government, from full faith and credit to new states and territories
Article VI: Supremacy, Oaths, and Debts
The article that honors the nation's prior debts, makes federal law supreme, binds officials by oath to the Constitution, and forbids religious tests for office
Cooper v. Aaron (1958)
The Little Rock case in which all nine justices declared that state officials are bound by the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
The steamboat case in which Chief Justice John Marshall read the Commerce Clause broadly and struck down a state monopoly that conflicted with federal law
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
The case that confirmed Congress's implied powers and barred states from taxing federal institutions
NFIB v. Sebelius (2012)
The Affordable Care Act case that upheld the individual mandate as a tax, rejected it under the Commerce Clause, and limited the Medicaid expansion
Printz v. United States (1997)
The case holding that Congress cannot order state and local officers to carry out federal programs, the core of the anti-commandeering doctrine
Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
The case that struck down the Voting Rights Act coverage formula, ending federal preclearance of election changes in mostly Southern states
The Articles of Confederation Dissolved
The first national constitution, in force from 1781 to 1789, which created a league of sovereign states with a weak Congress and no executive or national courts
The Eleventh Amendment
The 1795 amendment limiting federal court lawsuits against states, the foundation of modern state sovereign immunity
The Federalist Papers
The 85 essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, published as Publius in 1787 and 1788, that explain and defend the Constitution's structure
The Fourteenth Amendment
The 1868 amendment defining citizenship and guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the laws against the states
The Seventeenth Amendment
The 1913 amendment providing for the direct election of senators by the voters of each state, replacing election by state legislatures
The Twenty-first Amendment
The 1933 amendment that repealed Prohibition and gave states broad power to regulate alcohol within their borders
States & Local (9)
Counties
The roughly 3,000 county governments that administer state functions locally, from courts, jails, and elections to roads, health, and property records
Federal-State Relations
How the national, state, and local governments work together and clash in practice, through grants, mandates, preemption, joint programs, and lawsuits
Municipalities and Cities
The roughly 19,000 incorporated cities, towns, and villages that provide policing, water, zoning, and other services where most Americans live
State Attorneys General
The chief legal officers of the states, who defend state laws, protect consumers, and increasingly sue the federal government and major industries together
State Governments
How the fifty state governments are organized, what they do, and how they relate to the federal government
The District of Columbia
The federal capital district, governed by its own elected officials under the ultimate authority of Congress, with no voting representation in Congress
The National Guard
The state-based reserve military forces that answer to governors in peacetime but can be called into federal service by the President
Tribal Governments
The governments of the 574 federally recognized tribes, sovereign nations that make and enforce their own laws and maintain a government-to-government relationship with the United States
U.S. Territories
The five inhabited territories and several uninhabited islands under U.S. sovereignty, home to about 3.6 million people with limited representation in Washington
All Tags
Executive Branch 148 Legislative Branch 110 Separation of Powers 110 Economy 108 Cabinet Department 105 Constitution 94 Budget 80 Supreme Court 77 Elections 76 Federalism 75 States 70 Judicial Branch 65 National Security 62 Law Enforcement 59 Administrative State 58 Oversight 49 Military 45 Foreign Policy 40 Health 39 Environment 36 Independent Agency 35 Statute 31 Civil Service 30 Data & Statistics 29 Regulatory Commission 28 Former Agency 24 Emergency Management 24 Transportation 24 Intelligence 22 Education 22 Immigration 22 Taxation 21 Government Corporation 15 Territories 12 Veterans 9 Tribal 8