12th grade State, local and tribal government worksheet

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 board alone, since an elected board answers solely to the voters who chose it, whatever state rules 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
3. 2.

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

   • State law lets cities form and card A lists police as a city job, so a city's power rests on the state
   • Congress gives it, since the national government sits at the top of card A and power comes down from it
   • 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?

   • 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
   • County: carries out state laws. Tribe: a government-to-government link, not carrying out national laws
5. 4.

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

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

   Kira says that because a city is bigger than a school district, a city council can overrule a school board. What do cards A and B show?

   • It holds, since a district lies inside a county and the county carries out state laws over it
   • It holds, since a city runs police, water and parks, which gives it more power than a board
   • It holds, since the cards list the city before the school district, which puts the city higher
   • No arrow joins them; both arrows run from the state, so the cards do not support the claim
7. 6.

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

   • How many tribal citizens there are, since a government list counts people as well as governments
   • How many tribes were on that list in 2024; not other years, and not tribes missing from the list
   • 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
8. 7.

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

   • It fails, since the state also names the board members, as the arrow from the state shows
   • 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 holds, since the arrow from the state to the district shows money flowing down to the schools
9. 8.

   A tribal council makes a rule on tribal land and a governor objects. Pia asks what cards A, B and D suggest first.

   • The governor, since the Tenth Amendment reserves to the States each power not given to the nation
   • The governor, since a state is shown above counties, cities and districts and the tribe sits inside the state
   • The tribe, since sovereign nations may do anything on their own land without any limit
   • Neither is settled; the tribe has its own council, courts and constitution on card A, and no arrow from the state
10. 9.

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

    • 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 does not fit: a state may act solely on powers the nation has delegated to it, and card B names no such power
    • It fits but is not proven: card C reserves undelegated powers, and card B shows states acting on this one
11. 10.

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

    • It follows: a government with a council, courts and a constitution is a state by definition
    • 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
    • Not shown: a constitution is one trait of a government, and card B links tribes to the nation, not the states