Bell Ringer: Federalism

The United States government is organized on the principle of federalism, the sharing of power between national and state/local authorities. There are three broad categories of powers: 1. Exclusive powers: held by only one level of government and includes both enumerated powers (expressly articulated in the United States Constitution) and implied powers (which are are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution but inferred from expressed powers, particularly the Necessary and Proper Clause, as affirmed in the landmark McCulloch v. Maryland decision). 2. Reserved powers: any powers not granted to the national government or forbidden to the states, as affirmed in the Tenth Amendment (“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. Concurrent powers: shared between both levels of government.