Prior to the ratification of the US constitution power focused on dual sovereignty, between state and national government. On page 44 of Paul Peterson’s “From the Price of Federalism”, he further explains that state legislatures could nullify federal laws; while congress was given the power to raise an army and wage war, states could also maintain their own militia. The states LOST their sovereignty. Through modern federalism “each level of government had its own independently elected political leaders and its own separate taxing and spending capacity.” Sovereignty now rests firmly in the hands of national government. Under the sub title “The Rise of Modern Federalism”, on page 47 it begins to explain how modern federalism became more
