| block grants | federal grants-in-aid that permit state and local officials to decide how the money will be spent within a general area, such as education or health.
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| categorical grants | federal grants-in-aid to states and localities that can be used only for designated projects.
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| commerce clause | the clause of the Constitution (Article I, section 8) that empowers the federal government to regulate commerce among the states and with other nations.
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| confederacy | a governmental system in which sovereignty is vested entirely in subnational (state) governments.
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| cooperative federalism | the situation in which the national, state and local levels work together to solve problems.
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| devolution | the passing down of authority from the national government to states and localities.
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| dual federalism | a doctrine based on the idea that a precise separation of national power and state power is both possible and desirable.
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| enumerated powers (expressed powers) | the seventeen powers granted to the national government under Article I, section 8 of the Constitution. These powers include taxation and the regulation of commerce as well as the authority to provide for the national defense.
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| federalism (federal system) | a governmental system in which authority is divided between two sovereign levels of government: national and regional.
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| fiscal federalism | the expenditure of federal funds on programs run in part through state and local governments.
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| grants-in-aid | cash payments from the federal government to states and localities for programs which they administer.
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| implied powers | the federal government's constitutional authority (through the "necesssary and proper" clause) to take action that is not expressly authorized by the Constitution but which supports actions that are so authorized.
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| "necessary and proper" clause (elastic clause) | the authority granted to Congress in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper" for the implementation of its enumerated powers.
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| reserved powers | the powers granted to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.
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| sovereignty | the ultimate authority to govern within a certain geographical area.
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| supremacy clause | Article VI of the Constitution, which makes national law supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.
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| unitary system | a governmental system in which the national government alone has sovereign (ultimate) authority.
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