
THE FORGOTTEN FOUR WORDS IN THE 10TH AMENDMENT: "or to the people"
From My History Can Beat Up Your Politics by Bruce Carlson
April 22, 2026 · 33 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the often-overlooked phrase in the Tenth Amendment that reserves powers to the people, exploring its implications for state and federal authority.
That's the State's Rights amendment, right? Ask just about anyone about the Tenth Amendment and they will say "States." States rights, powers, protections, limits to the Federal government. And they are right. Partially. But the Tenth contains words at the very end reserving powers: to the states or to the people. The last part is hardly ever discussed and has not been significantly litigated. But it seems illogical to ignore it, and understanding it could be the key to applying the amendment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Bruce Carlson
Topics covered
- Tenth Amendment
- States' rights
- Federal government
- Constitutional law
- Political theory
Keywords
- Tenth Amendment
- States' rights
- Federal government
- Constitution
- Political power
- Legal interpretation
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Tenth Amendment
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