Concurrent powers are powers of afederal state that are shared by both the federal government and each constituent political unit, such as a state or province. These powers may be exercised simultaneously within the same territory, in relation to the same body of citizens, and regarding the same subject-matter.^[1] Concurrent powers are contrasted withreserved powers (not possessed by the federal government) and withexclusive federal powers (forbidden to be possessed by the states, or requiring federal permission).^[1]

In many federations, enumerated federal powers are supreme and so, they may pre-empt a state or provincial law in case of conflict. Concurrent powers can therefore be divided into two kinds: those not generally subject to federal pre-emption, such as the power to tax private citizens, and other concurrent powers.^[2]

In the United States, examples of the concurrent powers shared by both the federal and the state governments include the powers to tax, to spend, and to create lower courts.^[3]

The number and types of concurrent powers depend on the level of integration established by the constitution andother laws. Federations that practicecooperative federalism will predominantly exercise concurrent powers, while those applying the doctrine ofdual federalism will demarcate most powers as either exclusive to the federal government or reserved for the states.Asymmetric federalism offers a hybrid of these two models, in which the federal government may possess extensive exclusive and/or concurrent powers, but certain member states have negotiatedopt-out rights over select policy areas.

Depending on the federation, any or all of the following powers may be shared between different levels of government:

• Power of the purse andeminent domain. These powers are provided to both levels of government in nearly every modern federal constitution
• Peace, order, and good government, typically focused on passing andenforcing laws regardinginternal security,public order, andanti-corruption
• Martial law, which may be imposeddirectly by the federal government orrequested by the states.Brazil, theUnited States,Iraq, and historically theGerman Empire andYugoslavia are among a handful of federations that have placed certain categories ofreservists orgendarmes under dual state-federal control.
• General welfare, which can encompass alllawmaking powers regardless ofsubject matter
• Diplomacy andtreaty-making, in federations that allowparadiplomacy
• Border controls, usually limited toethnic orasymmetric federations

• Concurrent jurisdiction
• Intergovernmental immunity

This article about apolitical term is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information.

• v
• t
• e

This article about aconstitutional law topic is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information.

• v
• t
• e

• Federalism
• Constitutional law
• Political term stubs
• Constitutional law stubs

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from March 2019
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from March 2019
• All stub articles