The US federalism

Question

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am a foreign student, who now learning the US federalism. There are some question which I do not that what the correct answer is.

1)What the powers and responsibilities of each level at the federalism, which the US based on? I need some examples of these power in real life.

2)What are the exclusive federal powers, the exclusive state powers, and the concurrent (common) powers?

Thank you for the answering.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Answer 1

Federalism is basically the system where sometimes the federal (in Washington DC) government can do things, sometimes only the individual states (like California or Florida) can, and sometimes both can (concurrent).

For example:

1. only the federal government can declare war. Alaska couldn't go and declare war on somebody.
2. only the states can set marriage laws or establish and maintain schools. That's why school curriculums can be different in different states.
3. but BOTH can levy (require citizens to pay) taxes. This is why in the US we pay both federal and state taxes.

Here's a list of exclusive federal powers (also called Delegated Powers) set out in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution.

1. declare war
2. maintain an armed forces
3. regulate interstate (between states) and foreign commerce
4. admit new states
5. establish post offices
6. set standard weights and measures (back in the time where everyone used a different system of measurement)
7. coin money
8. set foreign policy
9. establishing rules for naturalization (how do foreigners become citizens)
10. establishing inferior courts
11. "make all laws necessary and proper for carrying out delegated powers" - basically the federal government can make laws needed to enforce all those points listed above. These are referred so as implied powers. Sometimes the state and federal governments argue over whether the federal government has the power to do something, and when they ask the Supreme Court to help them decide, the Court will use the "necessary and proper" clause to figure it out

Here are the exclusive state powers, called the Reserved Powers from the 10th Amendment

1. Establish and maintain schools
2. Establish local governments
3. make marriage laws
4. provide for public safety
5. conduct elections
6. regulating intrastate commerce (within each state)
7. Ratifying constitutional amendments
8. "Assume other powers not delegated to the national government or prohibited to the states"

Here are the Concurrent (shared) powers:

1. Taxation
2. Lawmaking and law enforcement
3. chartering banks and cooperations
4. taking land for public use (called eminent domain)
5. borrowing money
6. establishing courts
7. provide for public welfare

Another part of the Constitution says that although the federal government has supremacy over the states, the states can make any law they want, but only if it doesn't contradict national laws. So Arizona can make a law saying it is illegal for a donkey to sleep in a bathtub - and that's completely okay (It's a real law!)

And as mentioned before, the states and national government fight a lot about which one of them has the power to do something, especially because times have changed so much since the Constitution was written. Think about online shopping- who has the power to make laws about that? Is it within states (meaning the states can) or between states (meaning the national government can)? Very often, the Supreme Court is asked to decide. Many individual court cases have said what aspects of life belong to the state or national government, and they are used as precedent (rules for the future) about later questions.

Hope this helps!