MTTC History (009) Practice Test

Federalism describes the division of power between national and subnational governments. In a federal system, the constitution assigns certain powers to the national government—such as defense, monetary policy, and foreign affairs—and reserves others for subnational units like states or provinces, such as education, policing, and local infrastructure. Both levels typically have sovereignty within their own spheres and may levy taxes or regulate commerce, often with shared or concurrent powers. This structure balances national unity with regional autonomy and lets policy experiments occur at the subnational level while maintaining coordinated national standards. A unitarian system concentrates authority at the national level, with subnational governments deriving their powers from the central government. A confederal system features a loose association of sovereign subnational units with a weak central authority. Parliamentary sovereignty refers to a legislature's ultimate legal authority, not the division of powers between national and subnational governments.