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1. Access the Citizen’s Guide to the Federal Budget (2001) (http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2001/guidetoc.html)and
answer the following questions:
- What is the total amount of receipts for fiscal year 2001? List the categories of taxes (by percentage,
from large to small) that make up this budget.
- What is the total amount of outlays (expenditures) and the debt reduction? List by name the categories
and amounts spent in this budget.
2. In our federal system, the relationship between the states and the national government is a dynamic,
evolving story—one that has important effects on our daily lives. For an informative look at the history
of federalism in the United States, go to http://www.min.net/~kala/fed/history.htm
Once at the site, do the following:
- Scroll down to the box labeled "1900s" and describe the "stream of commerce" doctrine.
- Click on the link to "child labor laws." What do the photos on this Web site add to the
discussion? Do they help you understand the issue of child labor and its relationship to federalism?
Return to the main page and scroll down to the "New Federalism" section. What are three examples
of how the new federalism has been implemented since the 1970s?
3. Goal: To study the history of federalism around the world.
URL: http://www.eurplace.org/federal/woodard.html
The federal system is one way of organizing a government. Although the United States has a 200 year history
of a successful federal governmental system, other countries throughout the world also have federal governments
of one form or another.
Go to the URL above and you will find a website devoted to studying federalism around the world. Read
the Sections titled The History of the Federal Idea in Brief, the Origins of the Term Federal, Key Characteristics
of a Federal Union, and Early Origins of the Federal Idea: the Historic Problem. Use what you have learned
to answer the following questions:
- List the first two federal unions of the modern era. These governments were _________ (loose or tight)
unions with _________ (weak or strong) central authorities.
- Who was Altiero Spinelli? What did he campaign for?
- Describe how the 17th century puritan idea of a "federal theology" evolved to include agreements
between states.
- List and describe the six key characteristics of a federal union. Explain how the United States government
meets these requirements.
- Name the four purposes for which the Waldstatte was formed in 1291.
4. The Federalist Idea 200 Years Later
PBS Online and the WNET Public Television Station aired a series of programs relating the federalist
idea to the current political climate. Go to the URL above and you will find the website that was associated
with the program. Scroll down the left-hand column to the area called "Stories of Federalism."
Select the link to "Federalism and the Supreme Court." Read the article and answer the following
questions:
- Briefly summarize the Supreme Court’s holding in U.S. v. Lopez.
- Describe the South Dakota v. Dole decision. Didn’t the decision effectively mandate a federal
drinking age of 21 years?
- Go back to the main web page by selecting the back button on your browser or re-entering the URL listed
at the beginning of this activity. Scroll down the left-hand column to the section marked The Federalist
Papers. Select the link to the "New Federalist Papers." Read the article and answer the following
questions:
- List three areas that the author of the article maintains might strike the framers of the constitution
as greatly changed from the original federalist ideas.
- List two historical events that the author believes have greatly contributed to these changes.
- Do you agree with the author of the article that we cannot ultimately "rely for our answers on
Hamilton, Madison, Jay, or any of the framers of our government?" Why or why not?
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