Political Science
Chapter 1
CHAPTER RECAP
• State and local governments are directly involved in our daily lives.
• The story of states and localities over the past two decades has been one of transformation.
They have shed their backward ways, reformed their institutions, and emerged as capable and proactive.
• State resurgence is exemplified in improved revenue systems, the expanded scope of state operations, faster diffusion of innovations, more interjurisdictional cooperation, and increased national–state conflict.
• Several persistent challenges dog states and localities: fiscal stress, interjurisdictional competition, and political corruption.
• The United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. The increase in population in Sunbelt states such as Nevada and Arizona outpaces the rest of the nation. Meanwhile, negative growth characterized North Dakota and Louisiana from 2000 to 2008.
• An outbreak of culture wars is redefining the politics of some communities and states.
• As a whole, the states are diverse, competitive, and resilient. Their increased capacity to govern effectively has been sorely tested in the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Chapter 2
U.S. federalism is an ongoing experiment in governance.
• A fundamental question is, what is the proper balance of power and responsibility between the national government and the states?
• Actions of the courts, Congress, and the executive branch have expanded powers of the national government.
• Over time, the trend has generally been in the direction of a stronger national government. Beginning in the early 1980s, however, there was a resurgence of the state and local governments as political and policy actors.
• The power relationships among the three levels of government are described by various models, including dual and cooperative relationships among the three levels of government.
federalism. The operative model is cooperative federalism, under the
CHAPTER RECAP
• State and local governments are directly involved in our daily lives.
• The story of states and localities over the past two decades has been one of transformation.
They have shed their backward ways, reformed their institutions, and emerged as capable and proactive.
• State resurgence is exemplified in improved revenue systems, the expanded scope of state operations, faster diffusion of innovations, more interjurisdictional cooperation, and increased national–state conflict.
• Several persistent challenges dog states and localities: fiscal stress, interjurisdictional competition, and political corruption.
• The United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. The increase in population in Sunbelt states such as Nevada and Arizona outpaces the rest of the nation. Meanwhile, negative growth characterized North Dakota and Louisiana from 2000 to 2008.
• An outbreak of culture wars is redefining the politics of some communities and states.
• As a whole, the states are diverse, competitive, and resilient. Their increased capacity to govern effectively has been sorely tested in the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Chapter 2
U.S. federalism is an ongoing experiment in governance.
• A fundamental question is, what is the proper balance of power and responsibility between the national government and the states?
• Actions of the courts, Congress, and the executive branch have expanded powers of the national government.
• Over time, the trend has generally been in the direction of a stronger national government. Beginning in the early 1980s, however, there was a resurgence of the state and local governments as political and policy actors.
• The power relationships among the three levels of government are described by various models, including dual and cooperative relationships among the three levels of government.
federalism. The operative model is cooperative federalism, under the