Nugent (Connecticut College, New London) examines how state governments protect and promote their interests in relation to the federal government today, what those interests are, and how the efforts of state officials affect people's understanding of the US Constitution's division of authority between the states and the national government. The framers intended power to be balanced between state and national governments in much the same way it is balanced between the three branches of the US government, he says, but the measures states use now tend to be other than those originally intended. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)