The Constitution divides power between the national government
and the states. This creates five different types of powers within
the Constitution.
1. Enumerated Powers ~ Powers given to the federal government
by the Constitution
Enumerated powers are those powers given
specifically (and only) to the national
government. They can be found in the first
three Articles of the Constitution.
2. Expressed Powers ~ Powers given specifically to Congress by the
Constitution
These powers are listed in Article I, Section 8 of
the Constitution.
These are powers that only Congress may do,
such as:
• declare war
• coin money
• establish a postal service
• maintain an army and navy
Expressed powers are a special kind of enumerated power. A
diagram of the two powers might look like this:
Enumerated
Powers
Expressed
Powers
All expressed powers are also
enumerated, but not all enumerated
powers are expressed.
Think about it this way--if we made a diagram showing all the
birds in the world, it might look like this:
All ducks are birds, but not all
birds are ducks. Yes?
Birds
Ducks
Same comparison we can make between expressed and
enumerated powers
Enumerated
Powers
Expressed
Powers
Birds
Ducks
All expressed powers are enumerated, but not all enumerated
powers are expressed.
3. Reserved Powers ~ Powers the Constitution saves for the states
These are powers that only the
state governments may do, such
as:
• operate the schools
• issue licenses (driver’s, marriage, doctor’s, etc.)
• run elections within the state
4. Concurrent Powers ~ Powers shared between the states and the
national government
These are powers that the states and the national government can do
at the same time, such as:
• make laws
• tax
• borrow money
• establish courts
• maintain roads
5.
Implied Powers ~ Powers given to Congress, but that are not
written, but suggested, by the Constitution
Implied powers come a specific sentence in
Article I--Article I, Section 8, Clause 18.
Clause 18 says Congress may do whatever else it
needs to do to accomplish its Expressed powers.
This sentence is called the Elastic Clause--it
stretches the powers given to Congress.
Implied powers allow Congress powers that are not specifically listed in the
Constitution. For this reason, the Anti-federalists thought it was the most
dangerous sentence in the Constitution.
Because of implied powers, Congress can build
a mint to coin money.
Implied powers also means Congress can control:
• space exploration
• nuclear power
• radio and TV communications (FCC)