What are national and subnational governments?

A national government is like the grown-up who takes care of the whole house, while a subnational government is like the kid who helps take care of just one room in that house.

Imagine your family has a big house, it’s your whole neighborhood. The national government is like Mom or Dad, who makes sure everything runs smoothly across all rooms, like paying for lights, fixing the roof, and making rules for everyone to follow.

But each room in the house has its own job. Your bedroom might have its own little rules, like when you can play video games or how many toys you can leave on the floor. That’s where a subnational government comes in, it’s like you or your sibling, who helps take care of that one room and follows the bigger rules set by Mom or Dad.

Sometimes, the kid in the room might even make their own little rules for their corner of the house, just like how cities or states can have their own special laws too!

So, while the national government is like the whole family working together, a subnational government is like each person taking care of their part of the house.