Subscribe

9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 8 of 9

Governing Arizona

State, county, city and tribal governments, and elections

What your child practices

How Arizona is governed: the Legislature, the Governor and the Secretary of State, merit selection of judges, the Independent Redistricting Commission, counties, cities and sovereign tribal governments, and how Arizonans register, vote early and take part.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: HS.C3.2; HS.C4.3; HS.C4.1 · the structures of national, state, local and tribal government, how elections work at each level, and how decisions are made in each branch

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Arizona’s Legislature makes laws; the Governor can veto, and a two-thirds vote of each house overrides.
  2. A commission nominates Supreme Court justices, the Governor appoints and voters retain them. An independent commission draws districts.
  3. Counties run elections and keep records; cities provide police, water and parks; tribal governments are sovereign. Many vote early by mail.

Example: Which service does a city usually provide: running elections, police, or national defense? Defense is federal; counties run elections. Cities provide police, water and parks. Answer: police

Governing Arizona in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 8 of 9 in 9th grade Social Studies, after The Arizona Constitution and before The Civics Test.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    How many legislative districts does Arizona have?

    • 15
    • 30
    • 90

  2. Question 2

    Who draws Arizona's congressional and legislative district lines?

    • the political party in charge
    • the Governor alone
    • the Independent Redistricting Commission

  3. Question 3

    Arizona's tribal governments are…

    • parts of city governments
    • sovereign nations that make their own laws
    • run by the Arizona Legislature

  4. Question 4

    A retention election asks voters…

    • to choose between two parties
    • to write a new law
    • whether a judge should stay in office

  5. Question 5

    About how long before an election must Arizonans register to vote?

    • one day
    • 29 days
    • one year

  6. Question 6

    A highway crosses tribal land, a county and a city. What does this show?

    • highways have no rules
    • only one government matters
    • governments must cooperate on shared services

More 9th grade