Why was the power of the state government not enumerated in the US
Constitution, like the power of the national government was listed?

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Request for Question Clarification by mvguy-ga on 15 Jul 2002 08:00 PDT

The basic answer is because the states have all the powers that don't
belong to some other entity or are prohibited, as the first two
comments below indicate.  What more than that would you like to know?

Greetings!

A simple answer: 

The 10th Amendment to the Constitution: "The powers not delegated to
the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

I *refuse* to get into the strong vs weak central government issues,
or the Federalism issue.  Not for $2.25.  <grin>

The key word in this assignment is "enumerated" as the federal
government governs according to the "enumerated" (read as "limited")
powers set forth in the United States Constitution. That may seem
circular, but a quick read of the articles contained in the
Constitution will quickly show you what the federal government CAN do
- all else is left to the states.

I would suggest :) that you take a quick read of the Constitution. It
will take 10 minutes and is well worth the time.