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Audio

Supreme Court’s Oral Arguments on Health Care and the Commerce Clause
Learning Objective: 3-2: Identify the kinds of constitutional protections that guard against an overly powerful national government.

Federalism and Marijuana Legalization
Learning Objective: 3-4: Explain the ways in which the national government dominates the modern federal system; 3-5: Assess to what extent collective action dilemmas influenced modern federal.
 

Video

Federalism
Learning Objective: 3-1: Describe federalism and the way it evolved in the United States; 3-4: Explain the ways in which the national government dominates the modern federal system.

Questions to consider:

1. How does the video define dual federalism? Why is it called “layered cake” federalism?
2. In what ways did the New Deal change the distribution of power between the states and national government?
3. How do grants and aid granted by the federal government encourage the states to cooperate?
4. Explain the concept of “marbled cake” or cooperative federalism.
    

Gay Marriage Showdown in Alabama
Learning Objective: 3-2: Identify the kinds of constitutional protections that guard against an overly powerful national government.

Questions to consider:

1. Given the supremacy clause of the Constitution can county probate judges in Alabama choose to ignore the federal court ruling requiring them to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples? Why or why not?
    

Federalism and the Affordable Care Act
Learning Objective: 3-3: Discuss the factors contributing to a shift word nationalized public policy.

Questions to Consider:

1. What legal argument did the Supreme Court majority cite as the reason they upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate?
    

Washington DC and Pot Legalization
Learning Objective: 3-4: Explain the ways in which the national government dominates the modern federal system; 3-5: Assess to what extent collective action dilemmas influenced modern federalism.
 

Libertarian Think Tank Argue That Congress Has Gone Too Far
Learning Objective: 3-2: Identify the kinds of constitutional protections that guard against an overly powerful national government
 

Unfunded Mandates and Street Signs
Learning objective: 3-4: Explain the ways in which the national government dominates the modern federal system.

Questions to consider:

1. What tools does the federal government have in this example to enforce compliance?
2. Which groups benefit from the changes required?