Previous Next

Enumerated Powers

In Article I, Section 8, the Constitution specifically grants Congress a number of different powers, now known as the enumerated powers. The enumerated powers include the power to declare war, coin money, and regulate interstate commerce. Because these powers are expressly stated in the Constitution, political scientists sometimes also refer to them as expressed powers.

Implied Powers

The national government is not limited to the enumerated powers. At the end of Article I, Section 8, the Constitution also grants Congress the power to do anything “necessary and proper” to carry out its duties. This clause is known as the necessary and proper clause or the elastic clause because of its mutability. Because the powers bestowed by this clause are implied rather than stated, they also are known as implied powers.

Example: The Constitution does not specifically grant Congress the power to regulate telecommunications because such technology did not exist at the time of the founding. But according to the Constitution, Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce. Regulating telecommunications is considered necessary for Congress to properly regulate interstate commerce, and so Congress has since assumed this power.

McCulloch v. Maryland

This landmark Supreme Court case from 1819 concerned a state government’s ability to tax a national bank. The Court, relying on the necessary and proper clause, ruled that the national government has far more powers than the Constitution enumerates in Article I, Section 8. The necessary and proper clause has allowed the national government to regulate air travel, combat industrial pollution, and foster the creation and growth of the Internet.

Previous page The Constitutional Basis of Federalism page 1 Next page The Constitutional Basis of Federalism page 3

Popular pages: Federalism

Take a Study Break