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  • Essay / Understanding Federalism: The Division of Power Between National and State Governments

    Under the Constitution, power is divided between national and state governments. This sharing of power is known as federalism. Federalism in the United States can be seen as the result of the political views of its founders, who distrusted strong government and wanted to establish a political system in which power was divided and controlled. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe Constitution grants two types of powers to the national government: delegated power and implied powers. Designated powers are the powers specifically given to Congress by the U.S. Constitution. These include the power to tax and spend money, the power to mint currency, and the power to regulate interstate commerce. Implied powers are not written into the Constitution but have been used to expand the powers of the national government. The Necessary and Proper Clause hardly gives Congress unlimited powers; the clause only authorizes Congress to pass all laws necessary and appropriate to carry into effect prior and other powers granted to the national government. The Constitution barely assigns specific powers to the states. State powers are called reserved or residual powers and are based on the Tenth Amendment. States have the power to pass laws that promote the health, welfare, safety, and morals of their citizens. Generally, this has allowed states to legislate in a wide range of areas, from transportation and voting to health care and domestic relations. States, however, do not have authority over areas that are assigned to the national government, such as foreign affairs and interstate commerce. How the framers of the Constitution were concerned with the division of powers between the federal and state governments. When the framers came under the United States Constitution, they intentionally did not give the national government much power over the states. In fact, they barred the federal government from controlling many segments because they wanted the states to continue to manage most areas themselves. It is for this reason that the founders developed federalism. The Mechanisms They Implemented to Have a Cohesive Republic Controversies over who is in charge are common and have arisen throughout history. So who decides which entity is responsible for a particular issue? Who decides whether or not this is a constitutional use of the federal government's powers? To ensure a cohesive republic, the founders created the institution of the Supreme Court which adjudicates conflicts between state rights and national powers. The Supreme Court therefore defines the distribution of powers. Keep in mind that the Supreme Court changes over time because the Court's decisions also change. To have a cohesive republic, the framers of the Constitution granted some expressed powers to the federal government, reserving the remaining powers to the states. In addition to the expressed powers of the federal government, the “necessary and proper” clause paved the way for the development of the field of “implied control” (Welch, Susan, 2012). The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution reserves powers not specifically granted to the federal government. to the national government “respectively to the States, or to the citizens” (Bardes et al, 2010). In addition to police powers.