II. The Constitutional
Division of Powers
A. The Framers Choose
Federalism
1. The Framers agreed that the confederate system of government under the Articles of Confederation
proved to be too weak to deal with the new nation’s myriad problems.
Question # 4
2. The Framers ruled out a unitary system of government because the Revolution had been fought
against a distant central government in London.
3. The Framers chose to balance order and freedom by creating a federal system that assigned powers
to the national government while reserving other powers to the states.
B. Expressed Powers
1. Expressed powers (also called enumerated powers) are specifically granted to the federal
government by the constitution.
Question # 5
2. Article I, Section 8 lists 18 separate clauses that enumerate 27 powers to Congress. Article II,
Section 2 assigns the President several expressed powers. Article III grants “the judicial power of the
United States” to the Supreme Court. And Finally, several amendments contain expressed powers.
For example, the 16th Amendment gives Congress the power to levy an income tax.
3. Key expressed powers
 the power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce
 the power to tax and spend
 the war power
C. Implied Powers
Question # 6
1. Implied powers are not expressly stated in the Constitution.
2. Implied powers are derived from Article I, Section 8 Clause 18. Known as the elastic clause or
necessary and proper clause, this key provision gives Congress the power “to make all laws necessary
and proper for carrying into Execution the forgoing Powers and all other Powers vested by the
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”
3. The necessary and proper clause enables the national government to meet problems the Framers
could not anticipate. It thus insured the growth of national power by enabling the federal government
to extend its powers beyond those enumerated in the Constitution.
D. Inherent Powers
1. Inherent powers derive from the fact that the United States is a sovereign nation.
Question # 7
2. Under international law, all nation-states have the right to make treaties, wage war, and aquire
territory.
E. Reserved Powers
1. Reserved powers are held solely by the states.
Question # 8
2. The 10th Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
3. Reserve powers include licensing doctors, establishing public schools, and establishing local
governments. Reserved powers also include the police power -- the authority of a state to protect and
promote the public morals, health, safety, and general welfare.
F. Concurrent Powers
Question # 9
G. Prohibited Powers
1. Concurrent powers are exercised by both national and state governments.
2. Concurrent powers include the power to tax, borrow money, and establish courts.
1. Prohibited powers are denied to the national government, state governments, or both.
Question # 10
2. For example, the federal government cannot tax exports, and states cannot make treaties with
foreign countries.
Summary 2