Federalism: How Power Is Split Between National and State Governments

Hey there — I'm Justice, and today we're digging into one of the smartest design choices in the U.S. Constitution: federalism. Here's the big idea. Federalism is a system where authority is divided between a national (federal) government and individual state governments — each with its own real powers. Cities and counties also exist as a third local tier, but they draw their authority from state governments. In this lesson we focus on the two constitutional layers: national and state. Why split power at all? The Founders had just escaped a king who controlled everything. They also remembered the Articles of Confederation (the first governing document the new nation tried) — a central government so weak it could not collect taxes or enforce its own laws. Federalism was their solution: share power, but share it carefully. The Constitution sorts powers into three categories. First: Enumerated (or delegated) powers — things ONLY the national government can do, spelled out in Article I, Section 8. Examples: printing money, declaring war, regulating trade between states, running the post office, and establishing federal courts. Only one set of currency can exist in a country, so this makes sense at the national level. Second: Reserved powers — things the Constitution leaves to the states (or the people), protected by the 10th Amendment. Examples: running public schools, issuing driver's licenses, setting speed limits on state roads, and conducting elections. These vary state to state — that's intentional! States also run their own court systems to handle cases under state law. Third: Concurrent powers — things BOTH levels can do at the same time. Examples: collecting taxes, building roads, and passing and enforcing laws. Both the IRS (federal) and your state collect income taxes — that's concurrent power in action. Note that while both levels have courts, each court system is separate: federal courts handle federal law and state courts handle state law. What happens when national and state law disagree? The Supremacy Clause (Article VI) says federal law wins. Think of it as the national government having the final word when there's a real conflict — but this only kicks in when laws directly clash. States still keep full authority over their own reserved powers. Here's a quick test: if you want to start a new currency, which level handles it? National — enumerated power. If your state wants to lower the speed limit on a highway it built? State — reserved power. Both governments taxing your family's income? Concurrent. Federalism means no single government controls everything — power is shared by design.