After the American colonies won their freedom from England, the thirteen colonies became thirteen states. The new states decided to work together. Their system of government was described in the Articles of Confederation. In this system, the state governments had most of the power. The Federal Government was very weak. This was very different from the government under the King of England. Show
The Founding Fathers thought that this system left the nation too weak. They decided to develop a new system of government. They wrote a new document called the Constitution, to replace the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution made a stronger Federal Government. It gave power to both the Federal Government and the state governments. This system is called federalism. Here are some examples of how powers are shared between the Federal Government and state governments.
In addition, the Federal Government and state governments share these powers:
Federalism and the Constitution Constitutions are complex instruments of republican government and popular sovereignty. The way that the Texas Constitution structures and empowers government in the Lone Star State is shaped by the federal structure of powers and responsibilities outlined in the U.S. Constitution. Scholars often speak of three types of powers identified in the U.S. Constitution: Additionally, the U.S. Constitution contains numerous other clauses that contribute to the interpretation of the relationship of the states to other states, to the national government, and to the people. Article IV is dedicated to addressing many of
these issues. Despite specifying this complex set of powers granted and denied to the national and state governments, the framers still felt the need to underline the generally subordinate position of the states relative to the national government in the "supremacy clause" in Article VI: This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States,
shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. Delegated Powers Delegated powers are those powers granted to the national government under the United States Constitution. The most important delegated powers are found in Article I of the Constitution, which focuses primarily on the national legislature (the United States Congress). This article lays out in specific detail the powers possessed by Congress – and, critically, the powers Congress does not exercise. Article I, Section 8 is essentially a laundry list of the things that Congress may do. The most prominent items on this list include the "power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States...." This section also includes the following powers:
Section 8 also assigns to Congress wide ranging powers over the military, including but not limited to:
The explicit mention of these power and others explicitly mentioned in other articles of the Constitution raises the question of whether the national government and Congress can exercise powers not explicitly mentioned. The framers were careful to make some powers explicitly off-limits. These are the powers denied to Congress. The framers composed a separate list of the powers denied to the states. Denied Powers The powers denied Congress are specified in a short list in Article I, Section 9. The article begins by prohibiting Congress from limiting the slave trade until 1808, one of the key compromises between the northern and southern states. It then proceeds to prohibit things like suspension of the privilege of habeas corpus, the imposition of taxes on exports from any of the states, and granting of titles of nobility.
Reserved Powers The Bill of Rights provides an important broad guarantee to the states regarding the limits of the powers of the national government and the essentially unlimited reserve of powers that the states may claim. Amendment 10 – the last of the original ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights – states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." This "reserved powers clause" is fundamental to the ability of the states to formulate and adopt their own constitutions and laws within the rubric of the U.S. Constitution. Because the U.S. Constitution remains the fundamental constraint on the power of the states within the federal system, new constraints on state powers can and have come in the form of additional amendments to the Constitution. The most fundamental changes were set in motion by the Civil War. Amendments 13, 14, and 15, ratified in the years following the end of hostilities, placed new or reemphasized existing constraints on the states, including the prohibition on slavery, the guarantee of due process of the law for all individuals, and the legal guarantee of voting rights for freed slaves and their descendents. It took the better part of the following century to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments, an illustration of the ability of the states to use the reserved powers to resist efforts to bring them into compliance with national mandates. Later amendments prohibited unjust or undemocratic practices in the various states, or expanded the voting franchise to new groups. The 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote throughout the country. The 24th amendment outlawed the poll tax, which tended to disenfranchise blacks and other minorities, as well as poor whites. The 26th lowered the legal voting age to 18 years. State Relations The U.S. Constitution also outlines general rules for relations between the states and other aspects of the states' relationship to the national government. Article IV of the Constitution is exclusively dedicated to these concerns.
How does the Constitution divided powers between national and state governments quizlet?How does the Constitution divide power between national and state governments? 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.
How does the U.S. Constitution structure and divide power between the national and state governments?Federalism limits government by creating two sovereign powers—the national government and state governments—thereby restraining the influence of both. Separation of powers imposes internal limits by dividing government against itself, giving different branches separate functions and forcing them to share power.
How does the Constitution divide power?Typically, this system divides the government into three branches: the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The United States federal government and forty states divide their governments into these three branches.
How does the Constitution determine the powers of state and national government?The Tenth Amendment declares, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." In other words, states have all powers not granted to the federal government by the Constitution.
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