Under the Articles of Confederation, why didn't the national government enforce the laws?

The states had the power to enforce the national laws.

The executive branch was ineffective in enforcing the laws.

The national police force had no power to enforce the laws.

The president was just a figurehead and could not enforce laws.

The correct answer is "the states had the power to enforce national laws."

Under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government had almost no real power. Besides being able to make states territories or adding amendments to the Articles of Confederation, the federal government could not force states to follow federal laws. This meant that the states could essentially ignore laws made by the US Congress.