Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Definition: states' rights from Collins English Dictionary

pl n (often capitals) in the US

1 the rights and powers generally conceded to the states, or all those powers claimed for the states under some interpretations of the Constitution

2 a doctrine advocating the severe curtailment of Federal powers by such an interpretation of the Constitution

› states' righter n

states' rights

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
in U.S. history, doctrine based on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The term embraces both the doctrine of absolute state sovereignty that was espoused by John C. Calhoun and that of the so-called strict constructionist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, which reserves to the state governments all powers not specifically granted by that document to the federal government. A states' rights controversy is probably inherent in the federal structure of the United States government. Immediately after the adoption of the Constitution, controversy arose as to how to interpret the enumerated powers granted the federal government. Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist party favored a broad interpretation, which meant a strong central government deriving its authority from implied as well as express powers…
22,344 results

Full text Article states' rights

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
in U.S. history, doctrine based on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The term embraces both the doctrine of…
| 931 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article States' Rights

From Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History
States' rights continued to be a significant...
The term “states' rights” refers to the nature and extent of states' independence from the U.S. federal government. Issues of states' rights have been central to many of the fiercest political, social, and economic debates in U.S. history. Occasionally these disagreements have erupted into violence…
| 1,901 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article States' Rights

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Engraving. George Washington addressing a group...
The history of the United States has been marked by the continued tension between the federal government and the states. Fear of tyranny prevented the establishment of a strong central government. Instead the political leaders of the early United States experimented first with a confederation and…
| 1,239 words , 3 images

Full text Article States' Rights

From Dictionary of American Government and Politics
The term 'states' rights' refers to the protection and promotion of state government policies over those of the federal government. The fifty states possess certain rights and political powers in relation to the federal government, as laid down in the Constitution. Moreover, as advocates of states' …
| 258 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article states' rights

From Encyclopedia of American Government and Civics
This color print depicts George Washington,...
Advocates of states' rights emphasize the sovereignty of state governments over a national government, the latter of which is to have finite, limited authority. The roots of this stance date back to the Articles of Confederation , when the original American states were a set of independent and equal…
| 2,144 words , 2 images
Key concepts:

Full text Article states’ rights

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Rights or powers retained by the regional governments of a federal union under the provisions of a federal constitution. In the U.S., Switzerland, and Australia, the powers of the regional governments are those that remain after the powers of the central government have been enumerated in the…
| 253 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article states' rights

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Interpretation of the US Constitution that emphasizes the powers retained by individual states and minimizes those given to the federal government, as stated in the Tenth Amendment. The dividing line between state and national sovereignty was left deliberately vague by the framers of the…
| 319 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article States’ Rights Party

From Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections
Also known as: Dixiecrat Party 1948–1956 The Dixiecrats, also known as the States’ Rights Democratic Party, was a minor political party that splintered from the national Democratic party in 1948. The Dixiecrats sought to preserve the economic and social hierarchy of the South, which included the…
| 1,253 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article states’ rights

From A/V A to Z: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Media, Entertainment and Other Audiovisual Terms
The exclusive rights to a film rented or sold for a flat fee by a producer to a distributor in a specific territory (originally a single U.S. state, hence the name). Under this system the distributor bears all of the financial risk — the producer receives his money regardless of how well the film…
| 166 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article states’ rights

From Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought
The US constitutional doctrine that the states of the Union should enjoy exclusive exercise of any powers not expressly granted by the US constitution to the federal government. Advocates of states’ rights have been active in US politics since the beginning of the Union, their initial inspiration…
| 127 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources