America’s central government is known as the federal government.

Federalism is the division of power between states.

The Constitution divides federal power among three branches of government.

Powers not given to the federal government are reserved for the states or the people.

Powers that states and the federal government share are called concurrent powers.

The Supremacy clause says state laws are superior to federal laws.

Implied powers are stated in the constitution and expressed powers are not.

The Constitution lets Congress do what is “necessary and proper” for carrying out its powers.

Congress can’t pass laws that have anything to do with powers it doesn’t have, even if there is a link to a power it does have.

People today still debate about how much power states and the federal government should have.

The Founders had to create a federal government system because there weren’t any other systems to choose from.

An association of independent states is called a unitary form of government.

A unitary form of government does not divide power between a central government and lower governments.