Definitions for "States' rights"
A pre-Civil War doctrine that the nation could be divided by a feudal system of states and sections. The opposite of Na- tionalism, it is a failed, sectional and divisive ideology. Nationalism aims for complete power of the American People, undivided and undim- inished, in the entire American nation.
a doctrine that federal powers should be curtailed and returned to the individual states
idea that federal encroachment on state powers is a constitutional violation.
the rights conceded to the states by the United States constitution
political position in favor of limiting federal power to allow the greatest possible self-government by the individual states