Working paper no. 27/2012 by Kevin Bassney offers a broad overview of the history of states’ rights and federalization within the United States of America. It is demonstrated that during time periods where the states held themselves superior to the federal government, such as the Colonial time period, Civil War, and the American Civil Rights movement, were times of the most violent discourse and strife in American history.
However, during times of accepted federal superiority over the power of states we have seen relative growth of the American economy and domestic peace. This can be seen as a template for European integration. In American a very diverse group of political, economic, and social interests, represented by the states, were able to come together to form a union; this has been to the long term benefit of all member states. So too must countries within the European Union be willing to sacrifice some of their sovereignty in order to promote long term economic, political, and social growth of the individual member states.