Power doesn’t just shift in Washington; it moves along a carefully drawn map between the federal government and the states. We dive into that map by tracing the Tenth Amendment through two centuries of clashes, from the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions to modern fights over immigration, marijuana, sports betting, and healthcare funding. With Dr. Beienberg, we unpack why nullification burned out, how anti-commandeering took hold, and what the courts mean by a real choice versus a gun to the head.
We start where the early republic set the tone: Jefferson’s flirtation with nullification and Madison’s push for coordinated protest. That split helps explain the tariff crisis, Jackson’s hard line against unilateral state defiance, and Edward Livingston’s enduring point that once states ratified the Constitution, disputes move to the courts, not militias. From there, we follow the law’s evolution to New York v. United States and Printz v. United States, where Justices O’Connor and Scalia cemented a simple accountability rule: Congress makes federal policy, and federal officers enforce it. States can cooperate, but they cannot be drafted.
Then we take on the questions shaping headlines today. What makes a sanctuary policy constitutional? Where is the boundary between noncooperation and obstruction? How did the Supreme Court handle conditional spending in South Dakota v. Dole and the Medicaid expansion, and what counts as related, optional, and noncoercive? Along the way, we connect these rules to real-world choices on road safety, speed limits, and how states navigate federal incentives without surrendering their own priorities.
If you care about how power works in practice—who decides, who enforces, and who the voters can hold accountable—this conversation offers a clear framework. Listen, share with a friend who loves constitutional history, and leave a review to tell us where you’d draw the line between cooperation and control.

Check Out the Civic Literacy Curriculum!

School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership

Center for American Civics