federal authority
Central government power
Federal authority is power exercised by a national government, as distinct from state, provincial, or local governments.
In the United States, federal authority derives from the Constitution and encompasses matters like defense, interstate commerce, and immigration: The case tested the limits of federal authority over state environmental regulations.
The term often appears in debates about which level of government should control particular issues.
- enumerated powersAuthorities explicitly granted by constitution
- law enforcementUpholding legal codes
- concurrent powersPowers held by multiple governments
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- statuteEnacted written rule
executive branch · Congress · judicial review · due process · sovereignty · taxation · foreign affairs · alphabet agencies · regulatory commission · legislation · national security · supremacy clause · defense policy · jurisdiction · big government · bureaucracy · immigration control · block grants
- executive branchexecutive branch, Oval Office, executive power, executive orders, cabinet secretary
- Antebellum Americaantebellum era, Compromise of 1850, sectionalism, states' rights, Fugitive Slave Act
- central powercentral government, centralized control, power consolidation, state power, central command
- Cabinetcabinet ministers, cabinet member, cabinet secretary, cabinet position, cabinet meetings
- Jacksonian EraAndrew Jackson, Democratic Party, spoils system, Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears
- Red ScareHUAC, McCarthyism, blacklist, loyalty oaths, Joe McCarthy
federal authoritystate authority
Government's legitimate power
local authority · state power · municipal authority · state government · local government
federal authoritystates' rights
Provincial governmental autonomy
decentralization · devolution · regional autonomy · self-governance · subsidiarity
federal authorityindividual liberty
One's own protected rights
personal autonomy · anarchy · personal freedom · civil society · civil disobedience
federal, authority, federation, federate, federated, federalism, federalist, federalize, federally