American Government Federalism & its Constitutional Basis
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Overview
Federalism in the United States is a complex and ever-changing network of relations between national, state, and local governments. Federalism requires that state and local governments play a role in nearly every policy area. To fight the War on Terror, for example, the FBI, a federal organization, seeks to cooperate with state and local police forces. Worries about an impending avian flu epidemic have state health agencies and local hospitals working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal Department of Health. Even federal tax cuts affect state governments because states rely on the federal government for financial help. As a result, it is sometimes difficult to figure out where one level of government ends and the others begin.
There are three ways to organize power among national (or central) and state (regional or local) governments: unitary, federal, and confederal. Unitary governments concentrate almost all government power into a single national government, whereas confederal system disperse government power to regional or local governments. The federal system, also known as federalism, divides power between national and state governments. Under federalism, each level of government is independent and has its own powers and responsibilities. Because it is often not clear whether a state or national government has jurisdiction on a particular matter, the national and state governments alternate between cooperating and competing with each other.
| System | Description | Examples |
| Unitary | Concentrates all power in the hands of the national government; state governments (if they exist at all) merely follow the orders of the national government | Japan, France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia |
| Federal | Regional and national governments both have real power, but the national government is usually supreme over the regional governments | United States, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, India, Germany |
| Confederal | Diffuses nearly all the power to the state governments; the national government merely keeps the states loosely bound together | The Confederate States of America, the United Nations, the European Union |
The Constitutional Basis of Federalism
The U.S. Constitution does not use the term federalism, nor does it provide extensive details about the federal system. Nevertheless, the framers helped created a federalist system in the United States, particularly in the ways the Constitution allocates power.
The National Government
Article VI of the Constitution declares that the Constitution and any laws passed under it form the “supreme Law of the Land” in a passage called the supremacy clause. This clause implies that the national government has authority over the state governments.
The Constitution grants the national government several different kinds of powers and prohibits it from taking certain actions. The Constitution outlines four major types of power: enumerated, implied, inherent, and prohibited.
| Type | Key Clause | Explanation | Examples |
| Enumerated (expressed) | Article I, Section 8 | Powers explicitly granted to Congress | Declare war, coin money, levy taxes, regulate interstate commerce |
| Implied | Necessary and proper (Article I, Section 8) | Powers that Congress has assumed in order to better do its job | Regulate telecommunications, build interstate highways |
| Inherent | Preamble | Powers inherent to a sovereign nation | Defend itself from foreign and domestic enemies |
| Prohibited | Article I, Section 9 | Powers prohibited to the national government | Suspend the writ of habeas corpus, tax exports |
Enumerated Powers
In Article I, Section 8, the Constitution specifically grants Congress a number of different powers, now known as the enumerated powers. The enumerated powers include the power to declare war, coin money, and regulate interstate commerce. Because these powers are expressly stated in the Constitution, political scientists sometimes also refer to them as expressed powers.
Implied Powers
The national government is not limited to the enumerated powers. At the end of Article I, Section 8, the Constitution also grants Congress the power to do anything “necessary and proper” to carry out its duties. This clause is known as the necessary and proper clause or the elastic clause because of its mutability. Because the powers bestowed by this clause are implied rather than stated, they also are known as implied powers.
Example: The Constitution does not specifically grant Congress the power to regulate telecommunications because such technology did not exist at the time of the founding. But according to the Constitution, Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce. Regulating telecommunications is considered necessary for Congress to properly regulate interstate commerce, and so Congress has since assumed this power.
McCulloch v. Maryland
This landmark Supreme Court case from 1819 concerned a state government’s ability to tax a national bank. The Court, relying on the necessary and proper clause, ruled that the national government has far more powers than the Constitution enumerates in Article I, Section 8. The necessary and proper clause has allowed the national government to regulate air travel, combat industrial pollution, and foster the creation and growth of the Internet.
Inherent Powers
The preamble to the Constitution lays out the basic purposes of the United States government: to provide for the welfare of its citizens and to defend against external enemies. Because the federal government is sovereign, it also has certain powers called inherent powers, which are necessary to protect its citizens and defend its right to exist. The primary inherent power is self-preservation: A state has the right to defend itself from foreign and domestic enemies.
Prohibited Powers
The Constitution also explicitly denies the national government certain powers. For example, Congress cannot tax exports or tell states how to choose electors for the Electoral College. The powers denied to the national government are called the prohibited powers.
The Commerce Clause
The Supreme Court’s decision in the 1824 case Gibbons v. Ogden reasserted the federal government’s authority over the states. Aaron Ogden had a monopoly on steamship navigation from the state of New York. When Thomas Gibbons began operating his steamship in New York waterways, Ogden sued. The Court found that New York State did not have the right to issue a monopoly to Ogden because only the national government has the power to regulate interstate commerce. Chief Justice John Marshall referred to the commerce clause (which gives Congress the authority to regulate interstate commerce) of the Constitution as justification for his decision.
The State Governments
The Constitution also grants state governments some key powers, including the right to determine how to choose delegates to the Electoral College. States also have a great deal of latitude to write their own constitutions and pass their own laws. All state governments have three branches (paralleling the national government), although the powers granted to the branches differ in each state. In some states, for example, the governor has a great deal of power, whereas in others, his or her power is severely limited. States also use a variety of methods to choose judges.
The vast expanse of the national government has led some to conclude that state governments are of secondary importance. In 1941, for example, Supreme Court justice Harlan Stone remarked that the Tenth Amendment (which reserves powers to the states) had no real meaning. State governments, however, are still vital political actors, and they have adapted to new roles and new circumstances. At the start of the twenty-first century, many states have reasserted their strength and taken a larger role in homeland security, economics, and environmental policy.
Professional and Nonprofessional Legislatures
All states have a legislative body that makes laws, and all but one of the legislatures are bicameral. (Nebraska is the lone state with a unicameral legislature.) In some states, being a legislator is a full-time job. These legislators are paid well, have large staffs, and meet in session for much of the year. Political scientists call this type of legislature a professional legislature. In other states, the legislators are in session for short periods, receive very little pay, and have almost no staff. These states pride themselves on having nonprofessional citizen legislators rather than professional politicians.
Reserved Powers
The Tenth Amendment states that the powers not granted to the national government, and not prohibited to state governments, are “reserved to the States.” Political scientists call this the reservation clause, and the powers that states derive from this clause are known as the reserved powers.
Concurrent Powers
Powers held by both states and the national government are known as concurrent powers. The power to tax is an example of a concurrent power: People pay taxes at the local, state, and federal levels.
The Full Faith and Credit Clause
The full faith and credit clause (found in Article IV of the Constitution) both establishes and limits state powers. It declares that state governments must respect the laws and decisions of other state governments, such as driver licenses and marriage certificates issued by other states. To some extent, then, the clause expands state power: A state’s decision is binding on other states. At the same time, the clause limits state power by forcing the states to honor one another’s laws.
Local Governments
Although the Constitution mentions state governments and grants them some specific powers, it does not mention local governments at all. Courts have interpreted this omission to mean that local governments are entirely under the authority of state governments and that a state can create and abolish local governments as it sees fit.
State Power
The most obvious example of state supremacy over local government is that state governments take over local institutions somewhat regularly. State governments also have the power to redefine local governments, stripping their powers and changing the laws. In 1995, for example, the state of Illinois gave the mayor of Chicago almost complete control of the Chicago school system because the previous board of education had failed to improve schools.
Types of Local Government
States have created a multitude of types of local government. In fact, there are approximately 84,000 local governments in the United States. Each state has the power to define local government in any way it wants, allocating different types and degrees of power and responsibility. For a local government to have power, it must be granted a charter by the state, specifying its powers and responsibilities.
Most states grant some degree of autonomy to local governments. This autonomy is known as home rule: a promise by the state government to refrain from interfering in local issues. State governments give up this power because local governments with substantial autonomy can often manage local affairs better than the state government could. Ultimately, however, the state can still take power away from local governments, even those with home rule.
Some states have a complicated patchwork of town governments, with villages, townships, counties, and cities all having different powers. The most common—and probably the least known—type of local government is called a special district, a local government created to deal with a single issue or problem. Special districts frequently overlap with other types of local government, and the range of powers they possess varies greatly. Control of special districts also varies greatly: Some have elected leadership, whereas others have leaders appointed by the governor or legislature.
Example: Special districts are the most numerous type of government in the United States—totaling more than 39,000 across the country. They are also the most diverse. In some states, boards of education are special districts. Most states also have very specialized districts, such as water reclamation districts, boards to oversee public universities, and economic development districts. In some states, many of these districts have elected leaders. In Illinois, for example, citizens vote for dozens of local governments. Some special districts have the power to borrow money and oversee major construction projects (such as bridges, landfills, and treatment plants).
