The most broad-ranging power of the federal government has become the Commerce Clause. State Powers. Federalism content written by Linda R. Monk, Constitutional scholar.
Explore More Federalism Topics. Federalism Main Federalism is one of the most important and innovative concepts in the U.
Learn More. Enumerated Powers One way to limit the power of the new Congress under the Constitution was to be specific about what it could do. The Commerce Power The most broad-ranging power of the federal government has become the Commerce Clause. Your purchase supports PBS and helps make our programming possible. The process is usually initiated when the legislature proposes the amendment by a majority or supermajority vote, after which the people approve the amendment through a majority vote.
Amendments can also be proposed by a constitutional convention or, in some states, through an initiative petition. All states have a bicameral, or two-house legislature, except Nebraska, which has a unicameral, or single, house. In states where there is no official salary, legislators are often paid on a per diem basis i.
Like the national legislature, each house in a state legislature has a presiding officer. The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate, but the majority leader assumes most of the leadership roles. The house elects a Speaker who serves as its leader.
Leaders of each house are responsible for recognizing speakers in debate, referring bills to committee, and presiding over deliberations. Legislators don't wield the only legislative power in state government. In many states, the people can perform legislative functions directly. The ways by which these methods can be implemented vary, but they usually require a certain number of signatures on a petition.
After that, the issue is put on the ballot for a general vote. Initiative - A way citizens can bypass the legislature and pass laws or amend the state constitution through a direct vote. Referendum - A way citizens can approve of statutes or constitutional changes proposed by the legislature through a direct vote. Recall - A way citizens can remove elected officials from office. It is allowed in 14 states and is hardly ever used. The Governor is a state's chief executive.
A governor can serve either a two or four year term. Thirty-seven states have term limits on the governor. The president and vice-president are the only elected executive positions within the federal government. State governments, however, often have other positions executive elected separately from the governor.
Some examples include:. States rely on a broad range of revenue sources to fund government. The remaining revenues are split between excise taxes on gasoline, cigarettes and alcohol ; corporate income and franchise taxes; and taxes on business licenses, utilities, insurance premiums, severance, property and several other sources.
That being said, the general character of a state or state and local revenue system is more important than the nature of any single one of its components. The relative importance of the major revenue sources for state and local governments changed since Property taxes declined in importance, and their share was picked up mostly by state individual income taxes, charges and miscellaneous revenues. Since state revenue systems have developed gradually and tax policy is used to address multiple objectives, state revenue systems are likely to include inconsistencies.
Insurance Trust Revenue relates to the money that the state takes in for administering programs such as retirement, unemployment compensation, and other social insurance systems. Services and Fees include items such as tolls, liquor sales, lottery ticket sales, income from college tuition, hospital charges and utility fees. State Taxes come in many different forms: Most states have a sales tax.
Most states also have a state income tax, similar to the one used by the federal government. Most states have a progressive sales tax. States levy taxes on motor fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and gasohol. Most of the funds go towards financing roads and transportation within the state. Sin taxes apply to alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
These taxes are named as such because they were originally intended to decrease consumption of these "undesirable" goods. Most states also have inheritance taxes, where a person pays a percentage of what he or she inherits from a deceased person. About 1 percent of state revenue comes from gambling. Lotteries can be very profitable for the state.
Profits from lotteries have been used towards funding education, economic development, and environmental programs. Like the Federal government, state governments also have debts. One of the largest issue areas left to the discretion of the states is education. The United States' public education system is administered mostly on the state and local levels. State and local governments put more money toward education than any other cost. Amendment 10 — the last of the original ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights — states:.
This "reserved powers clause" is fundamental to the ability of the states to formulate and adopt their own constitutions and laws within the rubric of the U.
Because the U. Constitution remains the fundamental constraint on the power of the states within the federal system, new constraints on state powers can and have come in the form of additional amendments to the Constitution.
The most fundamental changes were set in motion by the Civil War. Amendments 13, 14, and 15, ratified in the years following the end of hostilities, placed new or reemphasized existing constraints on the states, including the prohibition on slavery, the guarantee of due process of the law for all individuals, and the legal guarantee of voting rights for freed slaves and their descendents. It took the better part of the following century to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments, an illustration of the ability of the states to use the reserved powers to resist efforts to bring them into compliance with national mandates.
Later amendments prohibited unjust or undemocratic practices in the various states, or expanded the voting franchise to new groups.
The 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote throughout the country. The 24th amendment outlawed the poll tax, which tended to disenfranchise blacks and other minorities, as well as poor whites.
The 26th lowered the legal voting age to 18 years. The U. Constitution also outlines general rules for relations between the states and other aspects of the states' relationship to the national government. Article IV of the Constitution is exclusively dedicated to these concerns. How the U. Constitution Distributes Power Federalism and the Constitution Constitutions are complex instruments of republican government and popular sovereignty.
Scholars often speak of three types of powers identified in the U. Constitution: Powers delegated to the Congress — Article I, Section 8 Powers denied to the Congress and powers denied to the states — Article I, Sections 9 and 10, respectively Reserved powers reserved to the states — the 10th Amendment Additionally, the U.
Despite specifying this complex set of powers granted and denied to the national and state governments, the framers still felt the need to underline the generally subordinate position of the states relative to the national government in the "supremacy clause" in Article VI: This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
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