A dogma, perhaps, surrounding a US state (7)
I believe the answer is:
alabama
'us state' is the definition.
(Alabama is a US state)
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
(Other definitions for alabama that I've seen before include "State of southeastern US" , "US state in which Birmingham is situated" , "17th US state, joined 1819" , "part of US" , "where cotton can be produced" .)