Federalism is "a system of government in which a written constitution divides the powers of government on a territorial basis between a central, or national, government and several regional governments, usually called states or provinces." Each government has its own unique set of powers given to them in the division of powers. Governments of federalism operate through their own agencies and act directly through its own office and laws.
Federalism allows for "dual system government" in which two governments operate over the people at the same time as one another. A major strength of federalism is that it allows for local actions for local concern as well as national actions for national concern. So idealy a state government has control over its public problems and cannot be interfered with national government whereas national problems are solved by the nation as a whole and not a lone state.
Delegated powers, or granted powers, consist of three different types of powers. Expressed powers are the powers delegated to the national government. They express powers are written powers in the constitution that is given to the national government. These powers include collecting taxes, coin money, regulating foreign commerce and interstate commerce, raising and maintaining army forces, declaring war, and many other things. Many of these expressed powers are written down in Articles I, II, and III of the constitution.
Implied powers are powers that are not written, but suggested by expressed powers. This power forms the "Necessary and Proper Clause" which states that congress has the power "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the forgoing Powers and all other powers vested in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Office thereof." The Necessary and Proper Clause may also be known as the Elastic Clause for it has stretched over to cover many situations in the United States.
Inherent powers are powers that belong to the national government. They are powers that are eventually possessed by all national governments and are few in number. The few major inherent powers are the ability to regulate immigration, to deport undocumented aliens, to acquire territory, to grant diplomatic recognition to other states, and to protect the nation against rebellion or other attempts to overthrow the government by force or violence.
There may seem to be many powers given to the national government, but they do not have all the powers written into the Constitution. In fact they are denied certain powers by the Constitution. These denied powers may include the ability to levy duties on exports, to prohibit freedoms, to conduct illegal searches and seizures, and to deny any person accused of a crime to a speedy and public trial or a trial by jury. National governments are also denied anything public. For example they do not have the power to create public schools. These powers will belong to the state itself as it is a public situation rather than national.
The 10th amendment of the Bill of Rights states that States of the United States are governments of reserved powers. These are powers that the Constitution has granted to the states and are denied to the national government. This means that they are in control of their territory and the way it runs seperately from other states and the national government. A state can forbid anyone from marriage under 18, or ban liquor or pornography. They can require that a doctor or plumber has a license before working within that state. In all, the powers one state may enforce is nearly unlimitted except for that of its boundaries. There are a couple reason as to why this may be. For one, the Constitution does not offer the National Government such powers, and two, it does not deny the states the power to take them.
Just like the National Government, however, the States are denied certain powers too. Denied powers may include the power to enter any treaty, to print or coin money, to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
Many powers that are given to the National Government are exclusive powers. These powers are ones that can only be executed by the National Government itself. There are also powers that the National and State Government share though. These powers are called concurrent powers. These may include abilities such as the power to levy and collect taxes, to define crime and set punishments, and to condemn private property for public use. Concurrent powers are not "exclusively" granted to a single type of government, but is also not denied to one. This enables the federal system to function successfully in our nation as it provides equality of power rather than being overpowered.