The Commission on intergovernmental relations Page: 62
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levels. The Commission calls attention in Part II to a number
of unsatisfactory situations-for example that in the field of water
resource development-which could be remedied in part by improved
organization. In general, however, it has considered
that recommendations on the administrative structure and procedures
of the National Government should be the responsibility
of the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of
the Government.
ACTIVITIES APPROPRIATE FOR THE NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT
It is of the essence of the federal system of the United States
that public powers are divided by the Constitution between two
levels of government-the National Government and the States.
The powers of the National Government are delegated and enumerated;
the powers of the States are reserved. Each level works
within the context of what the other does and can do. Consequently,
extensive as some of the powers of the National
Government are, they are usually incomplete in themselves except
in the fields of foreign affairs, defense, and a few others
such as currency and the postal service. Outside of these fields,
National action is exceptional in nature; frequently the National
Government is a participant rather than the sole performer.
When it acts coercively, it relies on relatively restricted grants of
authority, especially the power to regulate interstate commerce,
which is an element in a multitude of things but is hardly the
whole of anything. The power to dispose of property and the
power to spend money for the common defense and general welfare
are more extensive. Here, however, the National Government's
coercive power is limited.
The question of the proper scope of National action can be
approached in three ways: (1) in terms of subject-matter fields
of primary National responsibility; (2) in terms of conditions
that justify direct National action; (3) in terms of needs that
justify National participation in functions where it does not have
primary responsibility. These approaches are not mutually
exclusive.
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United States. Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. The Commission on intergovernmental relations, book, June 1955; Washington, D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1051/m1/76/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.