states' rights definition
STATES' RIGHTS. A doctrine and strategy in which the rights of the individual states are protected by the U.S. Constitution from interference by the federal government. The history of the United States has been marked by conflict over the proper allocation of power between the states and the federal government. doctrine and strategy in which the rights of the individual states are protected by the U.S. Constitution from interference by the federal government. The history of the United States has been marked by conflict over the proper allocation of power between the states and the federal government.