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Chapter 3. Federalism

Exercises

Gateway to grants

Federalism has changed over time. One of the key elements of current federalism relates to grants-in-aid, or how federal money is granted to states for particular policy purposes. As the textbook explains, this assistance can be substantial. The U.S. Census Federal Assistance Award Data System provides an overview of the different grants provided by the federal government to each state. The grants are broken down in the following ways: (1) formula grants comprise the categorical grants and block grants referred to in the text, and (2) project grants are grants awarded competitively for a particular policy purpose (these were not addressed in the text).

1. Scroll down to the "available data" section, click on the most recent of the "years available." From there, you have two choices. Click the U.S. Summary Table link.
   
   • If the majority of grants are not block grants, what types of grants are they?
   • What does this mean for the power of the federal government versus state and local governments?
   
   
   
2. Back at the Federal Assistance Award Data System home page, click on the "State Summary Table" drop-down box and highlight your state.
   
   • Compared to the entire federal outlay of grants, how well did your state do? Is that positive or negative given your state's relative population size?
   • Compared to the ratio of block grants to all formula grants (largely made up of categorical grants), does your state have significant leeway on how it spends grant? Or is its relative block grant-to-formula grant ratio similar? What does it mean for your state's ability to tailor specific policies?
   
   

No Child Left Behind: Improving education or hindering it?

Among the Bush Administration's most controversial policies may be the No Child Left Behind Act discussed in this chapter's "What's at Stake?" feature. Interestingly, the act was not very controversial initially as it received support from President Bush and many congressional Democrats, including Ted Kennedy.

1. Go to the No Child Left Behind web page. The web page is sponsored by the Department of Education, which is obviously supportive of the act. What evidence does the Department of Education provide to show that the act is successful? You might want to look at the Fact Sheets that the Department provides.
   
   
   
2. Not everyone has been happy with the results of No Child Left Behind. One of the most vocal critics of the act is the National Education Association (NEA). Go to the NEA's web page on No Child Left Behind. What are the NEA's criticisms of the act? How can two organizations come to such different conclusions about the same act?