n [ pl ]
( in the US ) the rights held by individual states under the 10th Amendment to the American Constitution . These include the right to have their own criminal laws, laws regarding commerce and taxes, and laws on education, health and social welfare, and also the right to have their own police force. The principle of states’ rights is supported by those who think that the central government should not interfere too much in state affairs. It has been supported especially by the states in the South , five of which voted for the States’ Rights Party in the 1948 election for President. There has been much argument in US history over the division of responsibility between state and national governments. In recent years the national government has given more rights to the states.