reserved power

American  

noun

1. a political power that a constitution reserves exclusively to the jurisdiction of a particular political authority.

---

Etymology

Origin of reserved power

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

"Illinois courts, therefore, have rejected the argument that the state retains an implied or reserved power to diminish or impair pension benefits."

From Chicago Tribune • Nov. 22, 2014

The Act reserved power of resumption during the currency of the lease, but the Opposition contended that the power would never be exercised.

From Our First Half-Century: A Review of Queensland Progress Based Upon Official Information by Queensland

There was about him at that time an air of reserved power which interested though it did not attract those who knew him.

From Casa Braccio, Volumes 1 and 2 by Castaigne, J. André

They like to have an adjunct to the best-working machinery, a sort of reserved power.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 88, February, 1865 by Various

Shall there be no reserved power in the empire to supply a deficiency which may weaken, divide, and dissipate the whole?

From The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2. From 1620-1816 by Ryerson, Egerton