Government is broadly defined as the administrative organization with authority to govern a political state. In British English (and that of the Commonwealth of Nations), a government more narrowly refers to the particular administrative bureaucracy in control of a state at a given time—known in American English as an administration. In American English, government refers to the larger system by which any state is organized. Furthermore, government is occasionally used in English as a synonym for governance.
In the case of its broad definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators, and arbitrators. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized.
States are served by a continuous succession of different governments. Each successive government is composed of a body of individuals who control and exercise control over political decision-making. Their function is to make and enforce laws and arbitrate conflicts. In some societies, this group is often a self-perpetuating or hereditary class. In other societies, such as democracies, the political roles remain, but there is frequent turnover of the people actually filling the positions.
Government of any kind currently affects every human activity in many important ways. For this reason, political scientists generally argue that government should not be studied by itself. They argue that government should be studied along with anthropology, economics, history, philosophy, science, and sociology.
Read more about Government: Government, Classifying Governments, Etymology, Maps
Other articles related to "government":
... However, when Lely became Minister of Transport and Public Works in 1913, the government started working on official plans to enclose the Zuiderzee ... Dienst der Zuiderzeewerken (Zuiderzee Works Department), the government body responsible for overseeing the construction and initial management, was set up in ...
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... democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system ... Executive power is exercised by the government ... Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament ...
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... The austerity measures introduced by the government are in part an attempt to fulfill the Maastricht criteria ... Total government spending is high ... grade, because of mounting financial-sector funding pressures and the general government debt which is of 81% of GDP (2010) ...
Famous quotes containing the word government:
“War ... should only be declared by the authority of the people, whose toils and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“The dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people, and every blessing of society, depend so much upon an upright and skilful administration of justice, that the judicial power ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive, and independent upon both, that so it may be a check upon both, as both should be checks upon that.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)