Relationship between the national government and the states worksheet answers

After your discussion, your teacher will lead you through an activity to determine your understanding of separation of powers and checks and balances, in particular. 

Launch
Open the discussion by asking students what they know about separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. Then, ask them whether there's anything they wonder about those key principles.

Activity Synthesis
After students complete their group discussions, lead them through the Activity Guide: Separation of Powers and Federalism: Whose job (or check), is it? document. You may distribute the document or use it to lead class discussion. 

Now that students have a better understanding of the separation of powers, ask students to identify examples of when a branch has the sole power to work alone and when a branch must work with another branch to take action.

Ask the students these follow-up questions:

  • Which jobs are standalone jobs of one of the branches of government?
  • Which jobs are overlapping?
  • Why did the founders separate power between the branches and included connections and overlap between jobs (checks and balances)?

As part of the discussion, connect the principles of the separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism to the broader theory of our republic: the need to both check abuses of power and create a government that creates policy that serves the common good (by slowing politics down, blocking bad ideas, curbing abuse, promoting deliberation, valuing principled compromise, etc.).

Students should see not only the value of checking government abuse, but also the constructive parts of our complicated system—how it might promote good policy—and also reflect on whether they think that the founders struck the right balance.

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What is the relationship between the national government and the states?

The relationship and authority of states and the federal government are governed by the U.S. Constitution. The federal government is delegated certain enumerated powers while all other powers not otherwise prohibited by the Constitution are reserved to the states.

What explains the relationship of the states to one another and to the national government?

Federalism describes the system of shared governance between national and state governments. The states and the federal government have both exclusive and concurrent powers, which help to explain the negotiation over the balance of power between them.

How does the relationship between the federal government and state government different from the relationship between state and local governments?

Whereas the Federal Government and State governments share power in countless ways, a local government must be granted power by the State. In general, mayors, city councils, and other governing bodies are directly elected by the people.

What is the national government's relation to the states quizlet?

The national government guarantees every state a democratic form of government and will protect each state from invasion and against domestic violence. The national government also will respect territorial integrity of each state. What does the national government guarantee to the state governments?