Chapter 3: American Federalism. Permissive federalism – Implies that although federalism provides “a sharing of power and authority between the national and state governments, the state’s share rests upon the permission and permissiveness of the national government.” “Our federalism” – Championed by Ronald Reagan,...

AP Government Chapter 3 Notes: Federalism Criminal actions can be defined by state law, by national law, or by both. Thus a criminal can be prosecuted in the state court system, or in the federal court system, or both. Numerous programs are funded by the national government but administered by state and local governments.

In a federal system, authority is divided between a central government and regional, or sub-divisional governments. Within each government’s sphere of authority, each is supreme, in theory. Why Federalism?

Chapter 3: American Federalism. Devolution revolution – The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states. Federalism – Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and subdivisional governments, called states in the United States.