2025 civics test · Question 60 · System of Government
What is the purpose of the 10th Amendment?
Official answer
- (It states that the) powers not given to the federal government belong to the states or to the people.
What this means
The purpose of the 10th Amendment is to say that any powers not given to the federal government belong to the states or to the people.
It is the last amendment in the Bill of Rights, and it makes the balance of power clear: the national government has only the powers the Constitution actually grants it, and everything else is left to the states or to individuals. This is why states run schools, police, and driver’s licensing while the federal government handles things like the military and printing money.
The answer is: powers not given to the federal government are kept by the states or the people.
Why this is on the test
This 2025 question is the constitutional basis for the division between federal and state power, so it ties several other questions together.
How this question is asked
On the 2025 civics test, the officer asks up to 20 of the 128 questions out loud and you pass by answering 12 correctly. You answer in your own words. There is no multiple choice and nothing to write down for the civics portion.
Related questions
More from System of Government.
- 16 Name the three branches of government.
- 17 The President of the United States is in charge of which branch of government?
- 18 What part of the federal government writes laws?
- 19 What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
- 20 Name one power of the U.S. Congress.
- 21 How many U.S. senators are there?