What are enumerated powers?

, , Comments Off on What are enumerated powers?

Enumerated powers are the powers that the congress has as specified in the constitution of the United States.

In Section 8 of Article I of the constitution, there is a list of the 17 powers that are important to enable the government to function well. These enumerated powers are needed in order to protect the freedom of each American citizen. These powers that are listed in the constitution include coining money, protection of intellectual property rights, post roads and post offices, standard measures and weights as well as national defense.

Enumerated powers explained

Enumerated powers have their purpose, and they were constructed in such as way due to the unlimited powers of the state government but with their limited money. The government was unable to print money for the cost of the government programs because the federal government is the one with the power to do such an act.

The federal government, meanwhile had only 17 enumerated powers, and as such it cannot use inflation as a reason to provide funding for government programs. This scenario helped in keeping the US dollar value stable from the time of the US founding up until the first part in the 20th century.

The founders of the US as a republic were firm believers in the concept of dispersing powers. These founders thought that dispersion of powers was needed to ensure that the individual freedom is maximized as well as to ensure that the power of the states is intact. This system aided in helping to limit how much the taxpayers spend on programs that were being questioned in the federal level. It is believed that all 17 enumerated powers are able to provide many benefits to all. The people also were allowed and able to move around in one state to another to find the government that can best provide for their needs.

Tea Time Quiz

[forminator_poll id="23176"]