- Reserved Powers by the Constitution: The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that all powers not delegated to the Federal Government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the States or the people. This forms the constitutional basis of state powers.
- Matters of Internal Governance: States have the authority to legislate on all matters of internal concern, such as education, police, public health, transport, agriculture, etc. as long as they do not conflict with federal law.
- Prohibited Powers: Some powers are explicitly denied to the states; for example, states cannot make treaties, coin money, or tax imports/exports.
- Concurrent Powers: States also share some powers with the federal government, such as taxation, establishing courts, and law enforcement, but federal law is supreme in case of conflict.
Thus, the state governments in the U.S. operate independently within their constitutionally assigned domains while respecting the supremacy of federal law.
