State, local and tribal government

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D. Card A, levels of government, a summary in our words, written today: The national government has Congress, the President and the federal courts. A state government has a governor, a legislature and state courts. A county carries out state laws locally and keeps records such as deeds. A city or town has a mayor and a council and runs police, water and parks. A school district has an elected school board that runs public schools. A tribal government has a tribal council, tribal courts and its own constitution. Card B, the links between them, from the same summary: State to county: counties carry out state laws. State to city or town: state law lets cities form. State to school district: the state sets school rules. National government to tribal government: a government-to-government relationship. Card C, the Tenth Amendment (1791), exact words: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Card D, a note from the sheet: federally recognized tribes are sovereign nations, and the United States deals with each one government to government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs listed 574 such tribes in 2024.

2. 1.

   Ari's school has an elected board that wants to change the school day. Using cards A and B, who has the final say?

   • The county, since counties carry out state laws locally and the school sits inside a county somewhere
   • The board decides inside the rules the state sets, so it can change the day unless a state school rule covers it
   • The city, since the school sits in a city that runs police, water and parks for the people who live there day to day
   • The board alone, since an elected board answers solely to the voters who chose it, whatever state rules say
3. 2.

   Bo asks why a city can run its own police. Using cards A and B, what is the best reason?

   • Congress gives it, since the national government sits at the top of card A and power comes down from it
   • State law lets cities form and card A lists police as a city job, so a city's power rests on the state
   • Cities hold power in their own right, since a mayor and council run them without any link to the state
   • The county gives it, since counties carry out state laws locally and police enforce those laws daily
4. 3.

   Esme compares the state-to-county arrow with the national-to-tribal arrow on card B. What differs?

   • County: carries out state laws. Tribe: a government-to-government link, not carrying out national laws
   • The tribal arrow shows that tribes are counties of the nation, as counties are parts of the state
   • Nothing: each arrow runs from a higher government to a lower one that must follow the higher one's laws
   • The tribal arrow shows that the nation sets tribal rules, in the same way that the state sets school rules
5. 4.

   Jun says the Tenth Amendment gives states unlimited power. Which words of card C limit that?

   • 'Nor prohibited by it to the States': powers the Constitution bars to states are not reserved to them
   • 'Not delegated': states may act solely after the national government has delegated a power to them
   • No limit: 'reserved to the States' means that everything not named in the Constitution belongs to them
   • 'Or to the people': it shows that states hold no power, since the people keep the whole of it
6. 5.

   Luz reads card D. What can a count from one list in one year support?

   • How many tribes were on that list in 2024; not other years, and not tribes missing from the list
   • How many tribal citizens there are, since a government list counts people as well as governments
   • That each tribe in the United States is on the list, since the Bureau keeps the list complete
   • That the same 574 tribes existed in earlier years, since a federal list records tribes that are permanent
7. 6.

   Card D calls recognized tribes sovereign nations. Milo concludes they have no place in the system on card A. What is the careful reply?

   • Wrong: tribal governments are parts of states, like counties, as card B shows with its state arrows
   • Right: sovereign means separate from the United States in each way, so card A should not list them
   • Card B shows the nation dealing with tribal governments directly: they appear as governments, but as nations
   • Right: the arrow runs from the national government alone, which makes tribes subordinate to the nation
8. 7.

   Noah says a state's only role toward a school district is paying its bills. What do the cards say?

   • Card B says the state sets school rules and says nothing about paying, so rulemaking is left out
   • It holds, since an elected board makes the state's rule-making role unnecessary for the district
   • It fails, since the state also names the board members, as the arrow from the state shows
   • It holds, since the arrow from the state to the district shows money flowing down to the schools
9. 8.

   Card B says state law lets cities form. Ren asks whether that fits card C. What follows?

   • It does not fit: a state may act solely on powers the nation has delegated to it, and card B names no such power
   • It does not fit: 'or to the people' means the people alone, not the states, may create local governments
   • It is proven: card B shows states forming cities, so the power must be one reserved to the States
   • It fits but is not proven: card C reserves undelegated powers, and card B shows states acting on this one
10. 9.

    Card A gives tribal government its own constitution. Tala says that makes it a state. What follows?

    • Not shown: a constitution is one trait of a government, and card B links tribes to the nation, not the states
    • It fails: a tribe's constitution counts if the national government approves it first and not otherwise
    • It follows: with 574 tribes on the list, there are more of them than states, so they must be states
    • It follows: a government with a council, courts and a constitution is a state by definition
11. 10.

    Zee buys land and needs the sale recorded as a deed. Which government keeps the record, and under whose laws?

    • The city, since land sales happen inside city limits and the city runs services for the people there
    • The state, since counties merely copy the records that the state already holds on its own account
    • The county alone, since deeds are a local matter that state law does not reach in any way
    • The county keeps it, carrying out state laws, since counties carry out state laws locally