Unit 1 Review: Where power comes from

UNIT 1 · FOUNDATIONS

UNIT 1 REVIEW

Where power comes from

American government is easier to reconstruct when each institution is tied back to a problem of power. The founding documents disagree about how strong the national government should be, the Constitution divides authority several different ways at once, and federalism leaves many disputes unresolved even today. McCulloch v. Maryland and United States v. Lopez show that those same arguments continue directly in constitutional law.

This review moves across the whole unit: democratic ideals, the Articles and the Constitution, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist debate, federalism, and the two required cases that define the reach of national power.

THE UNIT IN ONE TABLE

Table UR1.1 The unit’s ideas and where each one lives.

CONCEPT APPLICATION: STATE ELECTION RULES AND FEDERAL LIMITS

A state legislature requires voters to present identification at polling places in state and federal elections. Supporters say the rule protects election administration. A civic organization argues that the rule burdens eligible voters and files a constitutional challenge.

Part A. Identify one constitutional source that gives states a role in election administration.

States retain substantial authority over their own elections, and Article I, Section 4 gives state legislatures the initial authority to prescribe the times, places, and manner of congressional elections. State authority is therefore real, but it exists within the federal Constitution.

Part B. Explain one way the national government can limit a state election rule.

Congress may alter rules for congressional elections under the Elections Clause, and every state election rule remains subject to federal constitutional protections and valid federal statutes. For example, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments can limit state election practices that violate protected rights.

Part C. Explain how the scenario illustrates federalism.

States administer elections and can adopt different rules, but national constitutional provisions and federal law can limit those choices. The policy area therefore involves state authority and national constraints at the same time.

COMPARING EVIDENCE FOR A THESIS

Thesis: the Constitution divides governing authority both to prevent tyranny and to preserve a meaningful role for the states.

Evidence option 1. Federalist No. 51’s account of separated institutions checking one another.

Fits the thesis directly: this is the institutional-check half of the claim.

Evidence option 2. Federalist No. 39’s account of the Constitution’s mixed federal and national character.

Fits the thesis directly: this is the preserved-state-role half of the claim.

Evidence option 3. Federalist No. 10’s account of diluting factions across an extended republic.

Does not fit as directly. Federalist No. 10 addresses societal faction, not the division of governing authority this thesis specifically claims.

SCOTUS COMPARISON: AN INFRASTRUCTURE BANK

Nonrequired scenario. Congress creates a national infrastructure bank to fund highway projects, chartering it as a corporation much like the national bank at issue in McCulloch v. Maryland. A state challenges Congress’s authority, arguing the Constitution nowhere lists an infrastructure bank as an enumerated power.

Shared provision: the Necessary and Proper Clause, the same clause tested in McCulloch. Comparison: like the national bank, an infrastructure bank is not itself an enumerated power, but it is a reasonable means of carrying out powers Congress does hold, including the power to regulate interstate commerce and spend for the general welfare. Applying McCulloch’s reasoning, the facts here point toward upholding the infrastructure bank, since Congress may choose appropriate means to execute powers it genuinely holds.

SOURCE SET: FEDERALIST NO. 39

Source, adapted from Federalist No. 39: The proposed Constitution is neither wholly national nor wholly federal. The House draws authority from the people according to population, while the Senate represents states as equal political units. The amendment process also combines national and federal features.

Correct: B. The source describes authority divided between the national government and the states. The mixed structure is a central feature of federalism.

Correct: C. Equal representation of states in the Senate preserves the states as political units within the national system.

Correct: A. Federalism creates several access points because policy authority is divided across levels of government.

ILLUSTRATIVE DATA SET: FEDERAL FUNDING AND STATE DISCRETION

The percentages below are hypothetical and are used only to practice data analysis.

1. Which funding form in the table gives states the greatest discretion?

Revenue sharing.

2. Describe the relationship between federal restrictions and state discretion shown in the table.

As federal restrictions decrease, state discretion increases.

3. Explain how the pattern in the table illustrates federalism.

Congress can influence state policy through federal funding while leaving different amounts of decision-making authority to the states. The balance of national influence and state discretion changes with the funding mechanism.

SCOTUS COMPARISON: A FEDERAL SCHOOL-SAFETY LAW

Nonrequired case summary. Congress passes a law making possession of a knife within 1,000 feet of a school a federal crime. The statute contains no requirement that the knife moved in interstate commerce. The Supreme Court holds that simple possession near a school is noneconomic local activity and that the connection to interstate commerce is too attenuated to support the law under the Commerce Clause.

A. Identify the required Supreme Court case most relevant to the nonrequired case.

United States v. Lopez.

B. Explain how the facts and holding of the nonrequired case are similar to the required case.

In both cases, Congress used the Commerce Clause to regulate possession of an object near a school. The regulated conduct was noneconomic local activity, and the Court found the connection to interstate commerce too weak. Both holdings therefore limit Congress’s Commerce Clause power.

C. Explain how the comparison illustrates federalism.

The decisions limit the reach of national legislative power and leave more room for state regulation of local criminal activity. The Court’s interpretation of the Commerce Clause therefore changes the boundary between national and state authority.

ARGUMENT PRACTICE: WHICH DOCUMENT SUPPORTS THE CLAIM?

Claim: the Constitution protects liberty partly by dividing governmental power so that no single institution or level can easily dominate the system.

Choose the stronger pair of foundational documents: Federalist No. 10 and the Declaration of Independence, or Federalist No. 51 and Federalist No. 39. Explain your choice.

Model answer: Federalist No. 51 and Federalist No. 39 form the stronger pair. Federalist No. 51 explains how separated institutions check one another inside the national government. Federalist No. 39 explains the Constitution’s mixed national and federal design, which divides authority between the national government and the states. Together, the two documents support both parts of the claim: power is divided between branches and between levels of government. Federalist No. 10 is useful for controlling faction through an extended republic, but it does not address the institutional division of power as directly.

UNIT 1 PRACTICE SET

Correct: A. The charter places ultimate authority in the people and ties government’s legitimacy to securing their rights, the core claim of popular sovereignty. B) Federalism concerns the division of power between national and state governments, not the source of political authority. C) Checks and balances describes how branches limit one another, not where authority originates. D) Republicanism concerns representative institutions, not this specific authority claim.

Correct: D. Multiple organized groups competing to influence the same decision is the defining feature of pluralist democracy. A) Participatory democracy involves broad direct citizen involvement, not organized-group lobbying. B) Elite democracy involves disproportionate influence by concentrated wealth or status, not competition among multiple groups. C) Direct democracy is not one of the three models this course tests.

Correct: B. Both sides agreed liberty mattered; the disagreement concerned how much national power was safe and at what scale. A) Anti-Federalists favored a more limited central government, not the absence of one. C) Federalists supported real but checked national power, not power without limits. D) The dispute centered on national power and representation, not state court structure.

Correct: B. Congress could request funds from the states but had no power to tax individuals directly. A) Declaring war was a power Congress held under the Articles. C) Conducting diplomacy was also a power Congress held. D) Managing western territories was likewise a power Congress exercised.

Correct: C. It created a bicameral Congress with population-based House representation and equal-state Senate representation. A) Presidential selection was resolved through the Electoral College, a separate compromise. B) That question involves the Three-Fifths Compromise and later territorial disputes, not the Great Compromise. D) Ratification required nine of thirteen states, not unanimous consent, a separate convention decision.

Correct: D. Each branch holds a tool that limits another branch’s action, the defining feature of checks and balances. A) Federalism concerns divided authority between national and state governments, not interaction between branches. B) Popular sovereignty concerns the source of authority, not the mechanism described here. C) Judicial review is a specific power of the courts, not the presidential-congressional exchange described.

Correct: A. Supremacy makes valid federal law controlling in a genuine conflict, once the federal action is otherwise constitutionally valid. B) This reverses the clause’s actual effect. C) Conflicting laws cannot both remain enforceable on the same citizens. D) Ordinary conflicts are resolved judicially, not through amendment.

Correct: D. The Court held that Congress could choose appropriate means, including chartering a bank, under the Necessary and Proper Clause. A) The Commerce Clause was the clause tested in Lopez, not McCulloch. B) The Tenth Amendment reserves power to the states and grants Congress nothing. C) The Supremacy Clause explains why Maryland could not tax the bank, not why Congress could create it.

Correct: C. Gun possession near a school was noneconomic activity too weakly connected to interstate commerce. A) The Court’s objection was that the activity was noneconomic, not merely under-connected. B) The case did not hold the subject belongs exclusively to federal courts. D) The Necessary and Proper Clause was not the basis of this holding; the Commerce Clause was.

Correct: B. Conditional spending lets Congress influence state policy without directly regulating activity the Commerce Clause may not reach. A) No such amendment has occurred. C) Federal courts do not compel state legislatures to pass laws. D) The Necessary and Proper Clause still requires a connection to an enumerated power.