Key points • The Framers of the US Constitution structured the government so that the

three branches have separate powers. The branches must both cooperate

and compete to enact policy.

• Each of the branches has the power to check the other two, which ensures

that no one branch can become too powerful and that government as a

whole is constrained.

• This structure ensures that the people's will is represented by allowing

citizens multiple access points to influence public policy, and permitting

the removal of officials who abuse their power.

The structure of US government: separation of powers

By the late 1780s, it had become clear that the first governmental system of

the United States, the Articles of Confederation, wasn't working. The central

government under the Articles lacked a strong executive and a method for

resolving disputes at the national level.

But adding a strong executive branch to the US government might pose the

opposite problem. Would an executive, wielding the power of the army,

become too powerful? Would a federal government with more power overall

soon become tyrannical?

At the Constitutional Convention, the Framers debated these issues. Their

ultimate solution was to separate the powers of government among three

branches- legislative, executive, and judicial-so that each branch had to

cooperate with the others in order to accomplish policymaking goals. For

example, although the executive branch commands the military, only the

legislative branch can declare war and make funds available to pay and

provision the army. Therefore, both the legislative branch (Congress) and the

executive branch (the president) must consent for the United States to go to

war.

Accordingly, each branch of government has unique powers. As the branch

most responsive to the will of the people (who elect its members), Congress

has the power to pass laws, declare war, ratify treaties, and levy taxes. The

executive branch conducts foreign affairs and commands the armed forces.

The judicial branch interprets the laws of Congress and the actions of the

president to determine whether they are constitutional.

Powers of the branches of government

I

111111 _.1.....,1111..._ll,__

I

Legislative branch

Pass laws

Declare war

Impeach president and

judges

Approve presidential

appointments

Ratify treaties

Levy taxes

Establish number of

Supreme Court justices

Regulate Supreme

Court's jurisdiction

Executive branch

Veto legislation

Command armed forces

/\ /\

Judicial branch

Declare laws

unconstitutional

Hear cases on federal

law

Grant pardons Preside over

impeachment trials

Appoint judges, Declare presidential

ambassadors, department acts unconstitutional

heads

Conduct foreign affairs

and negotiate treaties

The structure of US government: checks and balances In addition to separating powers among the branches, the Framers gave each

branch the power to check, or stop, the actions of the other two branches in

meaningful ways. For example, the president has the power to veto, or reject,

laws made by Congress. But Congress can balance out that power in its turn

by overriding the president's veto with a two-thirds vote.

This system of checks and balances keeps each branch of government from

overstepping its bounds, and consequently, the federal government itself from

becoming too powerful.

veto legislation ____ ...,. ..... ~---

impeach president I I I I

1111111 __.....11111..._ll_

declare presidential acts unconstitutional

Impeach judges

I I I I

nominate judges declare laws unconstitutiona l

•

Chart with examples of powers that each branch has to check the other two branches. The red arrows show executive powers, the blue arrows show judicial powers, and the gray arrows show legislative powers.

What's important about separation of powers and checks and balances? How does the structure of US government affect its citizens?

First, the separation of powers in the government means that making law is a

long, complex process. Although this slows the pace of policymaking

considerably, the Framers intended for it to be difficult for the government to

act. The positive consequence of this system is that it gives people many

opportunities to influence law as it travels through the policymaking process

from initial idea to final implementation. For example, if Congress passes a law

that a citizen disagrees with, that citizen can work to persuade the president

to veto that law.

Second, checks and balances ensure that the government is working for the

people's interest and following the law. Government officials who commit

crimes or abuse the power of their office may be impeached. Impeachment is

the process of making formal charges against a public official. An official who is

impeached undergoes a trial, and if convicted, he or she is removed from

office. This process demonstrates that in the United States, no one is above

the law, not even the highest public officials.

What is federalism? Before we start talking about federalism, take a moment and see if you can

count the number of government entities that have jurisdiction over the place

you are right now.

What did you come up with? One? Three? More than that?

Your answer might differ quite a bit depending on where you are. You might be

obligated to abide by the laws of your country, your state, your province, your

district, your county, your city, or your town. In some countries, a citizen might

be governed by three or more layers of government. In others, they might only

be governed by a single national government.

In the United States, the two major layers of government are at the state and

national levels. This system, where more than one layer of government has

jurisdiction over the same territory, is called federalism. Although it seems

natural to US citizens that government is divided into multiple layers, in fact,

there are only 15 federal republics in the world.

In the United States, the federalist system emerged because the states

evolved from separate colonies, which had diverse populations and different

needs. The Framers of the Constitution envisioned that state governments,

not the national government, would be the main unit of government for

citizens on a day-to-day basis .

... ... .•. . .. ... .ye··

__ ....

A Civil War-era diagram of federalism in the United States. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Article IV Article IV of the US Constitution establishes the responsibilities of the states

to each other and the responsibilities of the federal government toward the

states.

Section 1 of Article IV requires that the states give "full faith and credit" to the

public acts and judicial proceedings of every other state. In other words, states

must honor each other's decisions and legal judgments: a person who gets

married in one state is still married if they move to another state, and an

individual convicted of a crime is still in trouble if they go to another state.

Section 2 stipulates that the citizens of each state are entitled to all "privileges

and immunities" of citizens in other states. This means that states can't treat

newcomers worse than their own citizens. For example, the Supreme Court

ruled that a California law denying new residents welfare benefits for a year

was unconstitutional.1

Exclusive and concurrent powers

One reason for the ongoing negotiation over the balance of power between

states and the federal government is their exclusive and concurrent powers.

Exclusive powers are those powers reserved to the federal government or the

states. Concurrent powers are powers shared by the federal government and

the states.

Exclusive federal powers

Coining money

Regulating interstate

and foreign commerce

Regulating the mail

Declaring war

Raising armies

Conducting foreign

affairs

Establishing inferior

courts

Establishing rules of

naturalization

Concurrent powers

Taxation

Lawmaking and

enforcement

Chartering banks and

corporations

Taking land for public

use (eminent domain)

Establishing courts

Borrowing money

Exclusive state powers

Conducting elections

Establishing local

governments

Providing for public

safety, health, welfare

Maintaining militia

Ratifying

Constitutional

amendments

Regulating intrastate

commerce

Only the federal government can coin money, regulate the mail, declare war, or

conduct foreign affairs. These powers make a lot of sense: imagine if Wyoming

could declare war on Canada, or Michigan could coin the Michigan Dollar. The

exclusive powers of the federal government help the nation operate as a

unified whole.

The states retain a lot of power, however. States conduct all elections, even

presidential elections, and must ratify constitutional amendments. So long as

their laws do not contradict national laws, state governments can prescribe

policies on commerce, taxation, healthcare, education, and many other issues

within their state.

Notably, both the states and the federal government have the power to tax,

make and enforce laws, charter banks, and borrow money.

The changing distribution of power between states and the federal government

As we noted above, the balance of power between states and the federal

government has changed a great deal over time. In the early United States, the

division between state powers and federal powers was very clear. States

regulated within their borders, and the federal government regulated national

and international issues.

But since the Civil War in the 1860s, the federal government's powers have

overlapped and intertwined with state powers. In times of crisis, like the Great

Depression, the federal government has stepped in to provide much-needed

aid in areas typically controlled at the state level.

Although the general trend has been toward an increase in federal power, the

states have also pushed back. For example, in the 1995 case US v. Lopez, the

Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had overstepped its bounds

by claiming the authority to ban guns from school grounds under the

Commerce Clause. Because guns on school grounds aren't related to interstate

commerce, the Supreme Court ruled the gun ban unconstitutional.

One way that the federal government can influence the states is through the

distribution of grants, incentives, and aid. State and local governments are

eager to obtain federal dollars, but many of those dollars come with strings

attached. Categorical grants from the federal government can only be used for

specific purposes, and frequently include nondiscrimination provisions (saying

that the distribution of the funds cannot be for purposes that discriminate

against women, minorities, or other groups).

The federal government can also pass unfunded mandates that tie federal

funding to certain conditions. For example, the National Minimum Drinking

Act of 1984 stipulated that states must have a minimum drinking age of 21 in

order to receive full federal highway funding.

Not all federal funding is strictly monitored. Block grants are federal grants

given to states or localities for broad purposes. The state or local governments

can then disburse those funds as they see fit.

Federalism in the United States today is very complex. It's at the heart of many

of our controversies of government today, such as who should control

healthcare or education policy. In the next lesson, we'll explore more about the

constitutional interpretations of federalism throughout US history.

Key terms

Term Definition

block Federal grants issued to states or local governments to support

grants broad programs

categorical Federal grants restricted to specific purposes

grants

concurrent Powers shared by the federal government and state

powers governments, e.g. lawmaking and taxation

exclusive Powers reserved either to the federal government or state

powers governments

federalism Political system that organizes government into two or more

levels with independent powers; in the United States this

consists of local, state, and national governments

federal

revenue

sharing

mandate

The practice of sharing federal income tax revenue with state

and local governments

A requirement that states or local governments meet a specific

condition in order to receive federal aid

Document to know

The US Constitution: Articles IV and V of the US Constitution outline the

federal system used in the United States today.

Article IV establishes that the states will give "full faith and credit" to the laws

of other states. For example, if a citizen gets legally married in one state, he is

still married if he moves to another state. Likewise, if a citizen commits a crime

in one state, she cannot escape to another state and evade justice. States also

can't discriminate against citizens of other states if they move; any US citizen

who moves to a state is entitled to the same "privileges and immunities" of

citizenship in that state as someone born there.

Article IV also promises states the protection of the federal government. It

does this by promising to defend states against invasion, guaranteeing them a

republican form of government, and barring the federal government from

splitting up a state without the consent of its legislature and Congress.

Article V describes the process of amending the Constitution, which requires

the ratification of three-quarters of the states. This provision of the

Constitution demonstrates the importance of the states in approving the

workings of the US government.

Exclusive and concurrent powers of state and federal governments

Exclusive federal powers

Coining money

Regulating interstate

and foreign commerce

Regulating the mail

Declaring war

Raising armies

Conducting foreign

affairs

Establishing inferior

courts

Establishing rules of

naturalization

Key takeaways

Concurrent powers

Taxation

Lawmaking and

enforcement

Chartering banks and

corporations

Taking land for public

use (eminent domain)

Establishing courts

Borrowing money

Exclusive state powers

Conducting elections

Establishing local

governments

Providing for public

safety, health, welfare

Maintaining militia

Ratifying

Constitutional

amendments

Regulating intrastate

commerce

Constitutional allocation of power: In addition to the separation of powers

and system of checks and balances that guard against any one branch of the

federal government becoming too powerful, federalism separates the powers

of the federal and state governments as an added security measure to reign in

government power. The federal system grants states large autonomy over

lawmaking within their borders, so long as they do not violate citizens' rights

or contradict federal laws. The federal government is also able to assert power

over the states through grants and mandates.

This system allows local state governments to be responsive to the particular

needs of their citizens while binding the states together into a larger nation.