Federal and State Government Essay

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Federal and State Government

An Analysis of Powers in Federal and State Government

The debate over having a strong central government or strong state government in the early days of the Republic seemed to fall on the side of the states. But as the years have proven, the Constitution, which extended very specific powers to the U.S. government, has come to be interpreted in ways that would extend even more power to the central government than at first seemed possible or even permissible. This paper will show what powers are actually extended to the federal government (according to the Constitution), what powers are extended to the state governments, the power limitations of both, and the powers that overlap.

As Ellis Katz (1996) states, "The Constitution, as written and ratified, creates a system of dual federalism in which both the national government and the states are sovereign in their respective spheres of competence" (p. 4). Although today governmental power is far more centralized than in the early days of the Republic, the federal government was originally given only those powers that the Constitution specifically granted it.

These powers may be found in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution. Article I, Section 8, grants 18 powers to the U.S. Congress. Specifically, the federal government has the power:

[1] To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises…; [2] To borrow money on the credit of the United States; [3] To regulate Commerce…; [4] To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization…; [5] To coin Money…; [6] To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting…; [7] To establish Post Offices…; [8] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts…; [9] To constitute Tribunals…; [10] To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas…; [11] To declare War…; [12] To raise and support Armies…; [13] To provide and maintain a Navy; [14] To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; [15] To provide for calling forth the Militia…; [16] To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia…; [17] To exercise Legislation.

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..over…the Seat of the Government of the United States…Forts, Magazines…and other needful buildings; [18] To make Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers… (U.S. Constitution).

But the greatest of these powers is generally believed to be the power to collect taxes, regulate commerce, and declare war -- although, today, this last appears to have been appropriated by the Executive branch of the Federal government in the Office of the President of the United States. Moreover, the 18th power may be seen as a kind of "elastic clause" (Katz, 1996, p. 5) that extends the powers of the federal government in perpetuity.

In contrast, the powers that are extended to the States (by the Constitution) are simply stated….....

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