Today’s question: Name one power that is only for the states.
The acceptable answers include a range of powers or services – education, police, land use and driver’s licenses – generally thought of as under state or local control. But they aren’t completely free of federal influence.
The framers did not all agree on the role of government, Professor Lawrence Hatter of the Washington State University History Department said. But they inherited British political thought that was deeply suspicious of centralized power.
“They were less interested, in general, in deciding which powers to reserve to the states than they were in ensuring the federal government did not accrue too much power,” he said in an email.