What is a state government?

A state government is the government of one of the 50 individual states of the United States. State governments are independent governing bodies that operate within their state borders, with their own constitutions, elected officials, laws, courts, and tax systems. They are not creations of the federal government but predate the federal government in many cases, with most original states having functioning governments before the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788.

The relationship between state and federal governments is defined by federalism, the constitutional principle that power is divided between the two levels. The 10th Amendment, ratified in 1791, states that powers not delegated to the federal government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states or to the people. This means that areas not specifically given to the federal government, such as criminal law, family law, education, transportation infrastructure, and most regulation of business and the professions, are primarily handled by states.

Each state has its own three-branch government similar in structure to the federal government. The executive branch is led by a governor, with various other elected officials such as a lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer. The legislative branch is the state legislature, which is bicameral in 49 states (with a senate and house or assembly) and unicameral only in Nebraska. The judicial branch consists of state trial courts, intermediate appellate courts in most states, and a state supreme court at the top.

State courts handle the vast majority of legal matters in the United States, since most law is state law. Each state government has its own constitution, which can grant rights and powers different from the federal Constitution and can be amended through state-specific procedures. State constitutions are generally longer and more detailed than the federal Constitution, often addressing matters such as state debt, education funding, and rights specific to that state.

States have wide authority to regulate matters within their borders, but they cannot pass laws that conflict with the federal Constitution or federal law under the Supremacy Clause of Article VI. State governments fund themselves through state taxes (income, sales, property) plus federal grants for specific programs, and most state budgets must be balanced by law.