One of America's leading conservative commentators on constitutional law
provides an illuminating history of states' rights, and the vital
importance of reviving them today.
Liberals believe that the argument for "states' rights" is a smokescreen
for racist repression. But historically, the doctrine of states' rights
has been an honorable tradition--a necessary component of constitutional
government and a protector of American freedoms. Our Constitution is
largely devoted to restraining the federal government and protecting
state sovereignty. Yet for decades, Adam Freedman contends, the federal
government has usurped rights that belong to the states in a veritable
coup.
In A Less Perfect Union, Freedman provides a detailed and lively
history of the development and creation of states' rights, from the
constitutional convention through the Civil War and the New Deal to
today. Surveying the latest developments in Congress and the state
capitals, he finds a growing sympathy for states' rights on both sides
of the aisle. Freedman makes the case for a return to states' rights as
the only way to protect America, to serve as a check against the tyranny
of federal overreach, take power out of the hands of the special
interests and crony capitalists in Washington, and realize the Founders'
vision of libertarian freedom--a nation in which states are free to
address the health, safety, and economic well-being of their citizens
without federal coercion and crippling bureaucratic red tape.
