Capstone: Map Your Own Stack

by bam

The capstone of the path, and its last course. You have learned the method (find the body, its enabling authority, the document that grants it, and who can overturn it), the middle layer of states and provinces, the local layer of cities and the special districts that outnumber them, tribal nations as a separate sovereign, and the governments that exist without a state at all. Now you put the whole toolkit to work on the one place you know best: the block you live on. This course teaches you where each layer's PRIMARY RECORD actually lives, the state constitution and its statutes, the county or city charter, the special district's enabling act and the assessor and elections offices, tribal jurisdiction, and an HOA's recorded covenants, and how to find the document for each. Then it sets the graded capstone: document every government with authority over your block, cite the primary record for each, and note which ones surprised you. Most people find six to twelve, and are surprised by half. It closes with a rubric you grade yourself against. This course teaches how to READ authority. It is not legal advice, and it never asks you to publish anyone's private address or parcel data, including your own.