Obligations of the States to Each Other
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principle being that Congress may not discriminate against one or more
States and must treat all States as equals. Broadly speaking, every new
State is entitled to exercise all the powers of government which belonged
to the original States of the Union, and it must be admitted to the Union
on an equal footing.
At the same time, Clause 2 of Section 3 makes it clear that Congress
has the power to regulate or dispose of territories, public lands, or other
property belonging to the United States government. No State can tax
federally owned land within its borders, and Congress has full legislative
power to govern the affairs of territories, including all subjects upon
which a State legislature might act.
Obligations of the States to the National Government
The States’ obligations to the national government are found in a number
of constitutional provisions. Under Article I, Section 4, the States are
obliged to hold elections for Senators and Representatives, and to prescribe the time, places, and manner for such elections. Congress can alter
such regulations, however, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
Article II, Section 1, which confers the executive power, requires the States
to participate in the election of the President. The States are required to select presidential electors, but are free to choose them in any manner the
State legislature sees fit. In the early history of the United States, electors
were sometimes elected by the legislatures, by the voters in certain districts, b