State Government Power

Federal and State Government

federalism (Don't confuse this term with the term Federalist which was an early political party)

Division of power between the national government and the states.

Reserved powers

Reserved powers are those that the Constitution saves for the states.  Amendment 10 talks about reserved powers.

The enumerated powers (also called expressed powers, explicit powers or delegated powers) are the powers granted to the federal government.

 Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution lists powers given to the federal government (national government). 

These powers include:

 controlling immigration

 maintaining an army

 coining money

 establishing a postal system

Multiple Choice

Which power allows the federal government to regulate immigration?

• associated power

• concurrent power

• delegated power

• reserved power

Multiple Choice

Read the following list of powers of government and answer the question below.

-Borrow money

-Establish courts

-Build roads

Which type of governmental power is described in the list?

• concurrent

• delegated

• implied

• reserved

Multiple Choice

Read the following sentence and answer the question below. The Constitution limits the kind of laws that can be made by the federal government, and thereby grants the states the power to make all other necessary laws. Which word describes this type of power?

• absolute

• democratic

• enumerated

• reserved

Multiple Choice

How are delegated powers different from reserved powers?

• Delegated powers are listed in the U.S. Constitution.

• Reserved powers are exercised by the U.S. Congress.

• Reserved powers are granted by the federal government to the state governments.

• Delegated powers are shared between the federal government and the state governments.

Structure of State governments

• For the most part the structure of state governments is the same as the structure of the federal government, because they have state constitutions modelled on the U.S. Constitution. However, there are differences.

• So what do you think the structure of Florida's state government looks like?

Example of a difference between structure of federal and state constitutions:

The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. ... The current attorney general is Republican Ashley Moody, who took office on January 8, 2019.

Multiple Choice

True or False: Florida has an executive branch and the head of the executive branch is the state governor.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False: Florida has a bicameral legislative branch that makes its state laws such as the one that says all Florida 7th graders need to take a Civics EOC (End of Course Exam).

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False: Florida has a judicial branch which is composed of trial and appellate courts.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Read the following statement and answer the question below. The U.S. and the Florida Constitutions address many of the same topics. Which topic is only addressed in the Florida Constitution?

• amendments

• a bill of rights

• natural resources

• branches of government

Multiple Choice

Read the following statement and answer the question below. One way in which the Florida Constitution and the U.S. Constitution are different is in the length of terms for senators. How does the length of term for a Florida senator compare to the length of term for a member of the U.S. Senate?

• Florida senators serve one year, compared to five years served by members of the U.S. Senate.

• Florida senators serve four years, compared to six years served by members of the U.S. Senate.

• Florida senators serve six years, compared to seven years served by members of the U.S. Senate.

• Florida senators serve three years, compared to four years served by members of the U.S. Senate.

Multiple Choice

Which role does the Florida Constitution require be filled by election that the U.S. Constitution requires be filled by appointment?

• chief of staff

• chief executive

• attorney general

• district representative