Constitutions serve as the basic blueprint for a government, as they provide the foundation and describe the structure for how a community will govern itself.  The United States Constitution is often used as a model for creating a government, but it is only one of many possible ways to allocate government functions.  In this course, we will use constitutions as a lens for examining how different communities have structured their government and governance structures.  The primary focus will be on tribal governments, although we will also examine the constitutions of several state and national constitutions.