AP U.S. Government and Politics · Lesson 3

Checks and balances and federalism

Know Know it

Separation of powers gives each job to a different branch: Congress makes laws, the President carries them out, and the courts decide cases. Checks and balances let each branch limit the others. In Federalist No. 51, Madison argued that each branch needs the means and the motive to resist the others.

Examples of checks: the President can veto a bill, and Congress can override with two-thirds of each chamber. The Senate confirms major appointments by a majority vote and approves treaties by a two-thirds vote. The House can impeach and the Senate tries the case. Courts can strike down laws through judicial review, a power the Supreme Court claimed in Marbury v. Madison (1803).

Federalism divides power between the national government and the states. Enumerated powers are listed for Congress. The necessary and proper clause adds implied powers. The Tenth Amendment reserves other powers to the states or the people. Concurrent powers, such as taxing, belong to both. The supremacy clause makes valid national law win a conflict.

The balance shifts over time. In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Court upheld a national bank as an implied power and barred a state from taxing it. In United States v. Lopez (1995), the Court struck down a federal ban on guns near schools as beyond the commerce power. Congress also steers states with money: categorical grants carry tight rules, block grants give more room, and mandates impose requirements.

Trap Block grants loosen the strings

Students often mix up the two kinds of grants. A categorical grant comes with detailed rules for one narrow purpose. A block grant covers a broad area and lets the state decide more. States usually prefer block grants because they keep more control.

Worked example Easy

The President vetoes a bill. Congress then passes it again with two-thirds of each chamber, and it becomes law. What has Congress done?

  1. Used judicial review
  2. Checked the executiveAnswer
  3. Used a reserved power
  4. Claimed executive privilege

How to solve it

  1. The veto is the President's check on Congress.
  2. The override is Congress's answer, a check on the executive branch.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. Judicial review is a power of the courts, not of Congress.
  • B. Correct. A veto override is Congress's check on the President's veto, a clear case of checks and balances.
  • C. Incorrect. A reserved power belongs to the states under the Tenth Amendment, not to Congress.
  • D. Incorrect. Executive privilege is a claim the President makes to keep information private, not a power of Congress.

Explain Explain it

Task verbs: explain, describe

When you explain a federalism question, name the power or clause, then say which level of government it favors and why. When you explain a check, name the branch that acts, the branch it limits and the tool it uses.

Worked example Medium

In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court upheld the national bank and struck down Maryland's tax on it. Which two parts of the Constitution supported the ruling?

  1. The Tenth Amendment and the full faith and credit clause
  2. The First Amendment and Article V
  3. The necessary and proper clause and the supremacy clauseAnswer
  4. The Fourteenth Amendment and the Three-Fifths Compromise

How to solve it

  1. First question: could Congress create a bank? No clause names one, so the power must be implied, through the necessary and proper clause.
  2. Second question: could Maryland tax it? Valid national law is supreme, so the state tax had to fall.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. The Tenth Amendment was Maryland's side of the argument, and full faith and credit concerns states honoring each other's records.
  • B. Incorrect. The First Amendment protects expression and Article V covers amendments; neither was the basis of the ruling.
  • C. Correct. The necessary and proper clause let Congress create the bank, and the supremacy clause barred a state from taxing it.
  • D. Incorrect. The Fourteenth Amendment did not exist until 1868, and the Three-Fifths Compromise concerned representation.

Explain Your turn

Explain why a state governor might prefer to receive federal money as a block grant rather than as a categorical grant.

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A full answer does this

  • Says that a block grant covers a broad area with fewer federal rules
  • Says that this lets the state decide how to spend the money to fit its own needs

Model answer

A categorical grant must be spent on one narrow purpose under detailed federal rules, while a block grant covers a broad area with fewer rules. A governor would prefer the block grant because it gives the state more control to spend the money on its own priorities, such as housing in one city and transit in another.

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