Definition of the word government - Word и Excel - помощь в работе с программами

For the executive of parliamentary systems referred to as the government, see Executive (government).

Map legend

¹ This map was compiled according to the Wikipedia list of countries by system of government. See there for sources.
² This map presents only the de jure form of government, and not the de facto degree of democracy. Some countries which are de jure republics are de facto authoritarian regimes. For a measure of the degree of democracy in countries around the world, see the Democracy Index or V-Dem Democracy indices.

A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.

In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a mechanism for determining policy. In many countries, the government has a kind of constitution, a statement of its governing principles and philosophy.

While all types of organizations have governance, the term government is often used more specifically to refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments and subsidiary organizations.

The major types of political systems in the modern era are democracies, monarchies, authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.^[1] Historically prevalent forms of government include monarchy, aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, theocracy, and tyranny. These forms are not always mutually exclusive, and mixed governments are common. The main aspect of any philosophy of government is how political power is obtained, with the two main forms being electoral contest and hereditary succession.

Definitions and etymology

A government is the system to govern a state or community. The Columbia Encyclopedia defines government as «a system of social control under which the right to make laws, and the right to enforce them, is vested in a particular group in society».^[2] While all types of organizations have governance, the word government is often used more specifically to refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments on Earth, as well as their subsidiary organizations, such as state and provincial governments as well as local governments.^[3]

The word government derives from the Greek verb κυβερνάω [kubernáo] meaning to steer with a gubernaculum (rudder), the metaphorical sense being attested in the literature of classical antiquity, including Plato’s Ship of State.^[4] In British English, «government» sometimes refers to what’s also known as a «ministry» or an «administration», i.e., the policies and government officials of a particular executive or governing coalition. Finally, government is also sometimes used in English as a synonym for rule or governance.^[5]

In other languages, cognates may have a narrower scope, such as the government of Portugal, which is actually more similar to the concept of «administration».

History

Earliest governments

The moment and place that the phenomenon of human government developed is lost in time; however, history does record the formations of early governments. About 5,000 years ago, the first small city-states appeared.^[6] By the third to second millenniums BC, some of these had developed into larger governed areas: Sumer, ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley civilization, and the Yellow River civilization.^[7]

The development of agriculture and water control projects were a catalyst for the development of governments.^[8] On occasion a chief of a tribe was elected by various rituals or tests of strength to govern his tribe, sometimes with a group of elder tribesmen as a council. The human ability to precisely communicate abstract, learned information allowed humans to become ever more effective at agriculture,^[9] and that allowed for ever increasing population densities.^[6] David Christian explains how this resulted in states with laws and governments.

As farming populations gathered in larger and denser communities, interactions between different groups increased and the social pressure rose until, in a striking parallel with star formation, new structures suddenly appeared, together with a new level of complexity. Like stars, cities and states reorganize and energize the smaller objects within their gravitational field.^[6]

Modern governments

Starting at the end of the 17th century, the prevalence of republican forms of government grew. The English Civil War and Glorious Revolution in England, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution contributed to the growth of representative forms of government. The Soviet Union was the first large country to have a Communist government.^[3] Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, liberal democracy has become an even more prevalent form of government.^[10]

In the nineteenth and twentieth century, there was a significant increase in the size and scale of government at the national level.^[11] This included the regulation of corporations and the development of the welfare state.^[10]

Political science

Classification

In political science, it has long been a goal to create a typology or taxonomy of polities, as typologies of political systems are not obvious.^[12] It is especially important in the political science fields of comparative politics and international relations. Like all categories discerned within forms of government, the boundaries of government classifications are either fluid or ill-defined.

Superficially, all governments have an official de jure or ideal form. The United States is a federal constitutional republic, while the former Soviet Union was a federal socialist republic. However self-identification is not objective, and as Kopstein and Lichbach argue, defining regimes can be tricky, especially de facto, when both its government and its economy deviate in practice.^[13] For example, Voltaire argued that «the Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire».^[14] In practice, the Soviet Union was centralized autocratic one-party state under Joseph Stalin. In practice, the United States is a flawed democracy, since its electoral system has previously negated popular votes; as ruled by the Supreme Court, the winning political party electors must blindly vote for presidential candidate.^[15]

Identifying a form of government is also difficult because many political systems originate as socio-economic movements and are then carried into governments by parties naming themselves after those movements; all with competing political-ideologies. Experience with those movements in power, and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of government, can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves.

Other complications include general non-consensus or deliberate «distortion or bias» of reasonable technical definitions to political ideologies and associated forms of governing, due to the nature of politics in the modern era. For example: The meaning of «conservatism» in the United States has little in common with the way the word’s definition is used elsewhere. As Ribuffo notes, «what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism»; a «conservative» in Finland would be labeled a «socialist» in the United States.^[16] Since the 1950s conservatism in the United States has been chiefly associated with right-wing politics and the Republican Party. However, during the era of segregation many Southern Democrats were conservatives, and they played a key role in the conservative coalition that controlled Congress from 1937 to 1963.^[17]^[a]

Opinions vary by individuals concerning the types and properties of governments that exist. «Shades of gray» are commonplace in any government and its corresponding classification. Even the most liberal democracies limit rival political activity to one extent or another while the most tyrannical dictatorships must organize a broad base of support thereby creating difficulties for «pigeonholing» governments into narrow categories. Examples include the claims of the United States as being a plutocracy rather than a democracy since some American voters believe elections are being manipulated by wealthy Super PACs.^[18]

Forms

Plato in his book The Republic divided governments into five basic types (four being existing forms and one being Plato’s ideal form, which exists «only in speech»):^[19]

Aristocracy (rule by law and order, like ideal traditional «benevolent» kingdoms that aren’t tyrannical)
Timocracy (rule by honor and duty, like a «benevolent» military; Sparta as an example)
Oligarchy (rule by wealth and market-based-ethics, like a free-trading capitalist state)
Democracy (rule by pure liberty and equality, like a free citizen)
Tyranny (rule by fear, like a despot)

These five regimes progressively degenerate starting with aristocracy at the top and tyranny at the bottom.^[20]

In his Politics, Aristotle elaborates on Plato’s five regimes discussing them in relation to the government of one, of the few, and of the many.^[21] From this follows the classification of forms of government according to which people have the authority to rule: either one person (an autocracy, such as monarchy), a select group of people (an aristocracy), or the people as a whole (a democracy, such as a republic).

Thomas Hobbes stated on their classification:

The difference of Commonwealths consisteth in the difference of the sovereign, or the person representative of all and every one of the multitude. And because the sovereignty is either in one man, or in an assembly of more than one; and into that assembly either every man hath right to enter, or not every one, but certain men distinguished from the rest; it is manifest there can be but three kinds of Commonwealth. For the representative must needs be one man, or more; and if more, then it is the assembly of all, or but of a part. When the representative is one man, then is the Commonwealth a monarchy; when an assembly of all that will come together, then it is a democracy, or popular Commonwealth; when an assembly of a part only, then it is called an aristocracy. Other kind of Commonwealth there can be none: for either one, or more, or all, must have the sovereign power (which I have shown to be indivisible) entire.^[22]

Basic political systems

According to Yale professor Juan José Linz there a three main types of political systems today: democracies,
totalitarian regimes and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with hybrid regimes.^[23]^[24] Another modern classification system includes monarchies as a standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three.^[25] Scholars generally refer to a dictatorship as either a form of authoritarianism or totalitarianism.^[26]^[23]^[27]

Autocracy

An autocracy is a system of government in which supreme power is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of a coup d’état or mass insurrection).^[28] Absolute monarchy is a historically prevalent form of autocracy, wherein a monarch governs as a singular sovereign with no limitation on royal prerogative. Most absolute monarchies are hereditary, however some, notably the Holy See, are elected by an electoral college (such as the college of cardinals, or prince-electors). Other forms of autocracy include tyranny, despotism, and dictatorship.

Aristocracy

Aristocracy^[b] is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, elite ruling class,^[29] such as a hereditary nobility or privileged caste. This class exercises minority rule, often as a landed timocracy, wealthy plutocracy, or oligarchy.

Many monarchies were aristocracies, although in modern constitutional monarchies the monarch may have little effective power. The term aristocracy could also refer to the non-peasant, non-servant, and non-city classes in the feudal system.^{[citation needed]}

Democracy

National governments which self-identify as democracies
National governments which do not self-identify as democracies

Democracy is a system of government where citizens exercise power by voting and deliberation. In a direct democracy, the citizenry as a whole directly forms a participatory governing body and vote directly on each issue. In indirect democracy, the citizenry governs indirectly through the selection of representatives or delegates from among themselves, typically by election or, less commonly, by sortition. These select citizens then meet to form a governing body, such as a legislature or jury.

Some governments combine both direct and indirect democratic governance, wherein the citizenry selects representatives to administer day-to-day governance, while also reserving the right govern directly through popular initiatives, referendums (plebiscites), and the right of recall. In a constitutional democracy the powers of the majority are exercised within the framework of a representative democracy, but the constitution limits majority rule, usually through the provision by all of certain universal rights, e.g. freedom of speech, or freedom of association.^[30]^[31]

Republics

A republic is a form of government in which the country is considered a «public matter» (Latin: res publica), not the private concern or property of the rulers, and where offices of states are subsequently directly or indirectly elected or appointed rather than inherited. The people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people.^[32]^[33]

A common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch.^[34]^[35] Montesquieu included both democracies, where all the people have a share in rule, and aristocracies or oligarchies, where only some of the people rule, as republican forms of government.^[36]

Other terms used to describe different republics include democratic republic, parliamentary republic, semi-presidential republic, presidential republic, federal republic, people’s republic, and Islamic republic.

Federalism

Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term «federalism» is also used to describe a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units, variously called states, provinces or otherwise. Federalism is a system based upon democratic principles and institutions in which the power to govern is shared between national and provincial/state governments, creating what is often called a federation.^{[citation needed]} Proponents are often called federalists.

Branches

Separation of powers in the US government, demonstrating the trias politica model

Governments are typically organised into distinct institutions constituting branches of government each with particular powers, functions, duties, and responsibilities. The distribution of powers between these institutions differs between governments, as do the functions and number of branches. An independent, parallel distribution of powers between branches of government is the separation of powers. A shared, intersecting, or overlapping distribution of powers is the fusion of powers.

Governments are often organised into three branches with separate powers: a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary; this is sometimes called the trias politica model. However, in parliamentary and semi-presidential systems, branches of government often intersect, having shared membership and overlapping functions. Many governments have fewer or additional branches, such as an independent electoral commission or auditory branch.^[37]

Party system

Presently, most governments are administered by members of an explicitly constituted political party which coordinates the activities of associated government officials and candidates for office. In a multiparty system of government, multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government offices, typically by competing in elections, although the effective number of parties may be limited.

A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties together holding an absolute majority of seats in the parliament, in contrast to a minority government in which they have only a plurality of seats and often depend on a confidence-and-supply arrangement with other parties. A coalition government is one in which multiple parties cooperate to form a government as part of a coalition agreement. In a single-party government a single party forms a government without the support of a coalition, as is typically the case with majority governments,^[38]^[39] but even a minority government may consist of just one party unable to find a willing coalition partner at the moment.^[40]

A state that continuously maintains a single-party government within a (nominally) multiparty system possesses a dominant-party system. In a (nondemocratic) one-party system a single ruling party has the (more-or-less) exclusive right to form the government, and the formation of other parties may be obstructed or illegal. In some cases, a government may have a non-partisan system, as is the case with absolute monarchy or non-partisan democracy.

Maps

Democracy is the most popular form of government with more than half of the nations in the world being democracies-97 of 167 nations as of 2021.^[41] However the world is becoming more authoritarian with a quarter of the world’s population under democratically backsliding governments.^[41]

World first-and-second degree administrative levels

A world map distinguishing countries of the world as federations (green) from unitary states (blue).

Notes

^ Frederickson 2000, p. 12, quote:»…conservative southern Democrats viewed warily the potential of New Deal programs to threaten the region’s economic dependence on cheap labor while stirring the democratic ambitions of the disfranchised and undermining white supremacy.»
^ Ancient Greek: ἀριστοκρατία aristokratía, from ἄριστος aristos «excellent», and κράτος kratos «power».
^ Conducted by American think tank Freedom House, which is largely funded by the US government.

References

^ «14.2 Types of Political Systems». 8 April 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
^ Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition. Columbia University Press. 2000.^{[full citation needed]}
^ ^a ^b Smelser & Baltes 2001, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Brock 2013, p. 53–62.
^ «Government English Definition and Meaning». Lexico. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Christian 2004, p. 245.
^ Christian 2004, p. 294.
^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica (15th edition)^{[full citation needed]}
^ Christian 2004, pp. 146–147.
^ ^a ^b Kuper & Kuper 2008, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Haider-Markel 2014, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Lewellen 2003, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Kopstein & Lichbach 2005, p. 4.
^ Renna 2015.
^ Chiafalo et al. v. Washington (3d 807 October 2019).Text
^ Ribuffo 2011, pp. 2–6, quote on p. 6.
^ Frederickson 2000, p. 12.
^ Freeland 2012.
^ Abjorensen, Norman (15 June 2019). Historical Dictionary of Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 288–. ISBN 978-1-5381-2074-3. OCLC 1081354236.
^ Brill 2016.
^ Jordović, Ivan (2019). Taming Politics: Plato and the Democratic Roots of Tyrannical Man. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. intro. ISBN 978-3-515-12457-7. OCLC 1107421360.
^ Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan – via Wikisource.
^ ^a ^b Juan José Linz (2000). Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes. Lynne Rienner Publisher. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-55587-890-0. OCLC 1172052725.
^ Jonathan Michie, ed. (3 February 2014). Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences. Routledge. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-135-93226-8.
^ Ginny Garcia-Alexander; Hyeyoung Woo; Matthew J. Carlson (3 November 2017). Social Foundations of Behavior for the Health Sciences. Springer. pp. 137–. ISBN 978-3-319-64950-4. OCLC 1013825392.
^ Allan Todd; Sally Waller (10 September 2015). Allan Todd; Sally Waller (eds.). History for the IB Diploma Paper 2 AuthoritariaAuthoritarian States (20th Century). Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-1-107-55889-2.
^ Sondrol, P. C. (2009). «Totalitarian and Authoritarian Dictators: A Comparison of Fidel Castro and Alfredo Stroessner». Journal of Latin American Studies. 23 (3): 599–620. doi:10.1017/S0022216X00015868. JSTOR 157386. S2CID 144333167.
^ Johnson, Paul M. «Autocracy: A Glossary of Political Economy Terms». Auburn.edu. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^ «aristocracy». Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ Oxford English Dictionary: «democracy».
^ Watkins, Frederick (1970). «Democracy». Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (Expo ’70 hardcover ed.). William Benton. pp. 215–23. ISBN 978-0-85229-135-1.
^ Montesquieu 1748, book 2, chapters 1.
^ «Republic». Encyclopædia Britannica.^{[full citation needed]}
^ «republic». WordNet 3.0. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
^ «Republic». Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
^ Montesquieu 1748, book 2, chapters 2–3.
^ Needler 1991, pp. 116–118.
^ Gallagher, Laver & Mair 2006.
^ Kettle 2015.
^ Duxbury 2021.
^ ^a ^b The Global State of Democracy 2021, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
^ «Democracy Index 2017 – Economist Intelligence Unit» (PDF). EIU.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2018.

Bibliography

Brill, Sara (2016). «Political Pathology in Plato’s Republic». Apeiron. 49 (2): 127–161. doi:10.1515/apeiron-2015-0003. ISSN 2156-7093. S2CID 148505083.
Brock, Roger (2013). Greek Political Imagery from Homer to Aristotle. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4725-0218-6. OCLC 1040413173. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
Christian, David (2004). Maps of Time: an Introduction to Big History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24476-4. OCLC 966003275.
Duxbury, Charlie (29 November 2021). «Magdalena Andersson named Swedish prime minister (again)». Politico. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
Frederickson, Kari (2000). The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932–1968. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-4910-1. OCLC 475254808.
Freeland, Chrystia (2012). Plutocrats: the Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-1-84614-252-9. OCLC 795857028.
Gallagher, Michael; Laver, M.; Mair, P. (2006). Representative Government in Western Europe (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070366848. OCLC 906939909.
Haider-Markel, Donald P. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957967-9. OCLC 904484428.
Kettle, Martin (17 April 2015). «Coalition and minority governments are not so unusual in UK elections; The first-past-the-post system has led to fewer one-party majority governments in Britain than might be expected — only half of all those in the 20th century». Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022 – via Gale General OneFile.
Kopstein, Jeffrey; Lichbach, Mark, eds. (2005). Comparative politics: interests, identities, and institutions in a changing global order (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521708400. OCLC 1293165230.
Kuper, Adam; Kuper, Jessica, eds. (2008). The Social Science Encyclopedia. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-47635-5. OCLC 789658928.
Lewellen, Ted C. (2003). Political Anthropology: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-89789-891-1. OCLC 936497371. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
Montesquieu (1748). The Spirit of the Laws.
Needler, Martin C. (1991). The Concepts of Comparative Politics. New York: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-93653-2. OCLC 925042067.
Renna, Thomas (September 2015). «The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire». Michigan Academician. 42 (1): 60–75. doi:10.7245/0026-2005-42.1.60.
Ribuffo, Leo P. (2011). «20 Suggestions for Studying the Right now that Studying the Right is Trendy». Historically Speaking. 12 (1): 2–6. doi:10.1353/hsp.2011.0013. S2CID 144367661.
Smelser, Neil J.; Baltes, Paul B. (2001). International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. New York: Elsevier Science. ISBN 978-0-08-043076-8. OCLC 43548228.

Synonyms

Example Sentences

The government has been slow to react to the crisis.

She works for the federal government.

We need to improve relations with foreign governments.

He is a firm believer in democratic government.

We learned about different methods of government.

The country has been damaged by many years of weak government.

Recent Examples on the Web

Anything Biden says could be used by Republicans to reinforce their case of a politically biased government and justice system.

—Joey Garrison, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2023

Maryland Democratic lawmaker Darryl Barnes, who was recently elected to his third term, plans to resign after the legislative session ends this month and join a longtime lobbying and government relations firm in Annapolis.

—Ovetta Wiggins, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2023

The impact on rainfall shown in this study could be an effective argument against deforestation for governments and companies cutting down rainforests, co-author Dominick Spracklen, an expert on biosphere-atmosphere interactions at the University of Leeds, tells the Guardian’s Jonathan Watts.

—Alex Chun, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Apr. 2023

Among the pressing issues at hand, a new Finnish government, still to be negotiated after an election on Sunday, must decide whether the country will accept foreign troops on its soil, or even nuclear weapons belonging to its allies.

—Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023

That’s no coincidence given the attention Transformers put on Chinese audiences by casting Bingbing Li and the Chinese central government for major roles, filling the story with Chinese product placements and debuting the film on the country’s 18,000-plus theater screens.

—Nick Allen, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2023

What’s on the ballot The election will determine a new justice on the Supreme Court and other local offices like school boards and city and county government.

—Hunter Turpin, Journal Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2023

As The New York Times notes, Virgin Orbit’s unique, relatively low-cost, and flexible launch system technology could still appeal to governments, including the US.

—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 4 Apr. 2023

Industries likely to be the most resilient are accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, the federal government and private education.

—Dana Peterson, CNN, 4 Apr. 2023

See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘government.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler

The first known use of government was
in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near government

Cite this Entry

“Government.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/government. Accessed 13 Apr. 2023.

gov·ern·ment

(gŭv′ərn-mənt)

1. The act or process of governing, especially the control and administration of public policy in a political unit.

2. The office, function, or authority of a governing individual or body.

3. Exercise of authority in a political unit; rule.

4. The agency or apparatus through which a governing individual or body functions and exercises authority.

5. A governing body or organization, as:

a. The ruling political party or coalition of political parties in a parliamentary system.

b. The cabinet in a parliamentary system.

c. The persons who make up a governing body.

6. A system or policy by which a political unit is governed.

7. Administration or management of an organization, business, or institution.

8. Political science.

9. Grammar The influence of a word over the morphological inflection of another word in a phrase or sentence.

gov′ern·men′tal (-mĕn′tl) adj.

gov′ern·men′tal·ly adv.

Usage Note: In American usage government always takes a singular verb. In British usage government, in the sense of a governing group of officials, takes a plural verb: The government are determined to follow this course. See Usage Note at collective noun.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

government

(ˈɡʌvənmənt; ˈɡʌvəmənt)

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the exercise of political authority over the actions, affairs, etc, of a political unit, people, etc, as well as the performance of certain functions for this unit or body; the action of governing; political rule and administration

2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the system or form by which a community, etc, is ruled: tyrannical government.

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy)

a. the executive policy-making body of a political unit, community, etc; ministry or administration: yesterday we got a new government.

b. (capital when of a specific country): the British Government.

4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy)

a. the state and its administration: blame it on the government.

b. (as modifier): a government agency.

5. regulation; direction

6. (Linguistics) grammar the determination of the form of one word by another word

governmental adj

ˌgovernˈmentally adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gov•ern•ment

(ˈgʌv ərn mənt, -ər mənt)

1. the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a community, etc.

2. the form or system of rule by which a state, etc., is governed: monarchical government.

3. the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.

4. a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole.

5. (in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom)

a. the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time: The Prime Minister has formed a new government.

b. the parliament along with the cabinet.

6. direction; control; management.

7. a district governed; province.

9. a relationship between two words in a sentence such that the use of one word requires the other to be of a particular form.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Old French governement. See govern, -ment]

gov`ern•men′tal (-ˈmɛn tl) adj.

gov`ern•men′tal•ly, adv.

Government

the theory and exercise of complete and unrestricted power in government. See also autarchy, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy. — absolutist, n., adj. — absolutistic. adj.

1. a political theory advocating the elimination of governments and governmental restraint and the substitution of voluntary cooperation among individuals.
2. the methods and practices of anarchists. Cf. Nihilism. — anarchist, n. — anarchic, adj.

an absence of government and law; political disorder, often accompanied by violence. See also order and disorder.

rule by angels.

Rare. the principle of opposition to all forms of government, or to all restraint of individuals by laws. — antarchist, n. — antarchistic, adj.

the policy of strict racial segregation and political and economie discrimination against non-whites practiced in the Republic of South Africa.

1. the science of government.
2. the science of origins.

rule by that group which holds the numerical majority in a state. — arithmocratic, adj.

1. an absolute sovereignty.
2. an autocratic government.
3. autarky. — autarch, n. — autarchie, autarchical, adj.

1. a government in which one person has unrestricted control over others.
2. a country with an autocratic system. — autocrat, n. — autocratic, adj.

1. the power or right of self-government.
2. a self-governing community. Cf. heteronymy. — autonomous, adj.

the rule of a nation, state, or community by two persons.

1. a legislative body having two branches, houses, or chambers.
2. advocacy of bicameral structure. Cf. unicameralism. — bicameralist, n. — bicameral, adj.

the state of being composed of members of two parties or of two parties cooperating, as in government. — bipartisan, adj.

the domination of areas in Spanish and Latin America by local political bosses. Also caciquismo.

the practices of the carpetbaggers, Northerners who, after the Civil War, sought private gain in the South from the Reconstruction government. — carpetbaggery, n.

the doctrines and policies of Fidel Castro, communist premier of Cuba.

a system, especially in government, in which power and administration are concentrated in a central group or institution. — centralist, n., adj. — centralistic, adj.

a system with one thousand rulers.

rule by a single race.

the implementation of various political, economic, and social policies to enable a state to maintain or extend its authority and control over other territories. — colonialist, n., adj. — colonialistic, adj.

International Law. a joint sovereignty over a colony or dependent territory by several states. — condominate, v.

a system in which the powers of a monarch are defined and limited by law.

control of the whole world.

the control of a governmental system by ten persons. Also called decadarchy.

a form of government in which sovereign power resides in the people and is exercised by them or by officers they elect to represent them. Cf. republicanism. — democrat, n. — democratic, adj.

1. the power of demons.
2. government or rule by demons. — demonocratic, adj.

1. a form of government with a ruler having absolute authority; autocracy.
2. a system ruled by a tyrant or dictator having absolute, usually oppressive power. — despot, n. — despotic, adj.

a government controlled by two rulers; biarchy. — diarch, dyarch, n.

1. a despotic system ruled by a dictator possessing absolute power and absolute authority.
2. the office of a dictator. — dictatorial, adj.

Rare. a government controlled by slaves.

government by two persons.

1. a position in government held jointly by two men.
2. the two people holding such a position.

1. a system of government in which a sequence of rulers is derived from the same family, group, or stock.
2. the reign of such a sequence. — dynast, dynasty, n.

the belief or practice that government should be by a self-appointed group who consider themselves superior to those governed by virtue of their higher birth. — elitist, n., adj.

a centralized government.

a government controlled by workers.

the rank and position of a governor of a province or people. — ethnarch, n.

the quality of being a clique or combination, as within a larger organization. Also called factionalism. — factionist, n. — factionary, adj.

1. the tenets of a centralized, totalitarian, and nationalistic government that strictly controls finance, industry, and commerce, practices rigid censorship and racism, and eliminates opposition through secret police.
2. such a government, as that of Italy under Mussolini. — fascist, n. — fascistic, adj.

language typical of the federal government, especially bureau-cratie jargon.

1. a union of states under a central government distinct from that of the separate states, who retain certain individual powers under the central government.
2. (cap.) the principles of the American Federalist party, especially its emphasis during the early years of the U.S. on a strong central government. — federalist, n., adj. — federalistic, adj.

a European system flourishing between 800-1400 based upon fixed relations of lord to vassal and all lands held in fee (as from the king), and requiring of vassal-tenants homage and service. Also feudality. — feudal, feudalistic, adj.

government or domination of society by fools.

the system in which the rulers are old men.

a theory that advocates the extension of governmental activity. — governmentalist, n.

1. a system of government by priests.
2. a state so governed.

1. a system of rule by persons considered holy.
2. a state so governed.

a system of rule by 100 persons.

1. government by seven persons.
2. a group or confederacy of seven political units.
3. English History. the seven principal concurrent early English kingdoms. — heptarch, heptarchist, n. — heptarchal, heptarchic, heptarchical, adj.

1. the state or condition of being ruled, governed, or under the sway of another, as in a military occupation.
2. the state or condition of being under the influence or domination, in a moral, spiritual, or similar sense, of another person, entity, force, etc. Cf. autonomy. — heteronomous, adj.

a group or confederacy of six political units.

the system of government or authority of a hierarchy. — hierarchization, n. — hierarchial, adj.

a government in which there is equality of power among all the people. — isocrat, n. — isocratic, adj.

government by Jesuits.

a fascistic theory of government in Argentina under the Peron administration involving government intervention and economic control to ensure social justice and public welfare; Peronism.

a system of rule by the worst men.

a state in which the worst possible conditions exist in government, society, law, etc. See also utopia.

Rare. the rule, over ancient Israel, of the judges.

a supporter of legitimate authority, especially of claims to a throne based on the rights of heredity. — legitimism, n.

1. the system of manorial social and political organization, as in the Middle Ages.
2. Sometimes Pejorative. any small, strong unit of local political and social organization.

1. a matriarchal form of government.
2. a family, tribe, or other social group ruled by a matriarch or matriarchs. — matriarchic, adj.

a society organized with the mother or oldest female as head of the tribe or clan, with descent being traced through the female line. — matriarch, n. — matriarchal, adj.

government or dominance of society by the mediocre.

government by the mob; the mob as ruler or dominant force in society. — mobocratic, adj.

1. a person who advocates government by the mob.
2. a member of a mobocracy.

the doctrines and principles of a monarchical government. — monarchist, n. — monarchical, adj.

1. a governmental system in which supreme power is actually or nominally held by a monarch.
2. supreme power and authority held by one person; autocracy. — monarchie, monarchical, adj.

government or domination of society by the rich.

a system ruled by one person; autocracy.

1. the process of self-government by cities, towns, or municipalities.
2. a doctrine advocating such government. — municipalist, n.

a system controlled by ten thousand rulers.

the adherence to the doctrines of Napoleon and his dynasty. — Napoleonist, n. — Napoleonic, adj.

a government by amateurs.

the principles of a Russian revolutionary movement in the late 19th century, advocating the destruction of government as a means to anarchy and of ten employing terrorism and assassination to assist its program. — nihilist, n., adj. — nihilistic, adj.

a provincial system of government, as in modern Greece, under officials called nomarchs.
2. the office or jurisdiction of a nomarch. Also called nome.

a policy under which government regulation of private industry is reduced or nonexistent. — noninterventionist, n., adj.

1. a system of rule by a few persons.
2. the people who form such a government. — oligarch, n. — oligarchie, oligarchical, adj.

the office of or territory governed by a nobleman with royal privileges.

Rare. a realm or dominion that includes the universe.

a utopian community where all are equal and all rule. — pantisocratist, n. — pantisocratic, pantisocratical, adj.

a system in which power is held by the printed media.

advocacy of the parliamentary system of government. — parliamentarian, n., adj.

fatherlike control over subordinates in government. — paternalist, n. — paternalistic, adj.

a patriarchal government in a society or a church. — patriarchist, n.

a society organized to give supremacy to the father or the oldest male in governing a family, tribe, or clan. — patriarch, n.

rule or government by pedants; domination of society by pedants.

justicialism.

1. the rule of the rich or wealthy.
2. the rich or wealthy who govern under such a system. Also called plousiocracy. — plutocrat, n.

1. government by many rulers.
2. the condition of being polyarch. — polyarchist, n. — polyarchical, adj.

the state of relating to the administration or lifestyle of Pretoria, South Africa.

the theories, actions, and principles of the Prussians. — Prussian, n., adj.

a system of rule by the poor.

the civil government of Italy, as contrasted with the papal government of the Vatican. — Quirinal, adj.

the tenets of royal supremacy, especially in church affairs.

the principles of a theory of government in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and exercised by representatives they elect directly or indirectly and by an elected or nominated president.

the action taken and the policies followed by a government determined to recover a lost territory. — revanche, n. — revanchist, n., adj.

the customs of Saba, an ancient Arabic kingdom that flourished from 950 to 115 B.C. — Sabaean, adj.

Persian Empire, the system of provincial governments ruled by satraps, each of whom answered to the Persian emperor.

an excessive devotion to the interests of one particular section of a country or community. — sectionalist, n.

a feudal social and economic system in which persons of the lower class are bound to the soil, subject to the will of and service for their lord, and transferable to the new owner if the land is sold or otherwise deeded. Also serfdom.

a theory of government based upon the ownership and control of capital, land, and means of production by the community as a whole.

collective government or government by society as a whole.

1. the soviet system of government and the principles and practices of such a government.
2. a policy, action, etc., typical of the Soviet Union. — Sovietist, sovietist, n., adj.

1. the principle of concentrating major political and economic controls in the state.
2. the support of the sovereignty of the state. — statist, n., adj.

a system of rule by the military.

an early Irish rule of succession in which the successor to a Celtic chief was chosen from among eligible males during the chief’s lifetime. — tanist, n.

1. a theory and movement of the 1930s advocating the control of production and distribution by technicians and engineers.
2. a system of government based on this theory. — technocrat, n. — technocratic, adj.

1. the Roman practice of dividing authority over provinces among four governors.
2. a system of rule by four authorities. — tetrarch, tetrarchate, n. — tetrarchic, tetrarchical, adj.

1. a system of government by God or a god.
2. an order or system of deities. — thearchic, adj.

1. a system of government in which God or a deity is held to be the civil ruler; thearchy.
2. a system of government by priests; hagiarchy.
3. a state under such a form of rule. — theocrat, n. — theocratic, adj.

1. Platonism. a state in which a love of honor and glory is the guiding principle of the rulers.
2. Aristotelianism. a state in which the ownership of property is a qualification for office. — timocratie, timocratical, adj.

Ancient History. a small state or division of a larger state, as Judea.

1. a system of highly centralized government in which one political party or group takes control and grants neither recognition nor tolerance to other political groups.
2. autocracy in one of its several varieties.
3. the character or traits of an autocratic or authoritarian individual, party, government, or state. — totalitarian, n., adj.

1. the rule of a nation, state, or community by three persons.
2. a set of three joint rulers. Usually called triumvirate.
3. a country divided into three governments.
4. a group of three districts or three countries, each under its own ruler.

1. the customs, life, and organization of a tribal society.
2. a strong loyalty to one’s tribe, party, or group.

the former Chinese practice of governing provinces through warlords, or tuchuns.

1. a representative form of government with a single legislative chamber.
2. an advocacy of unicameral structure. — unicameralist, n. — unicameral, adj.

the state of being one-sided. — unilaterality, n. — unilateralist, adj.

1. the feudal system of lands held in fee and of mandatory vassaltenant homage, fealty, and service.
2. the condition of a person owing homage and fealty to a superior; vassalage.

local government by assemblies of parishioners, usually meeting in the vestry of the church. Also vestrydom. — vestryish, adj.

Government

government

The government of a country is the group of people responsible for ruling it. After government you can use either a singular or plural form of a verb.

The government has had to cut back on public expenditure.

The government have made up their minds that they are going to win no matter what.

Note that in American English, a singular form of the verb is usually used with government. Note also that when talking about the US president and the people he appoints to help him govern, speakers of American English use the word administration.

He pledged that his administration will consult with allies and Congress.

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[ guhv-ern-muhnt, ‐er-muhnt ]

/ ˈgʌv ərn mənt, ‐ər mənt /

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noun

the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc.; political administration: Government is necessary to the existence of civilized society.

the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed: monarchical government; episcopal government.

the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.; administration.

a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole: a dam built by the government.

(in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom)

the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time: The prime minister has formed a new government.
the parliament along with the cabinet: The government has fallen.

direction; control; management; rule: the government of one’s conduct.

a district governed; province.

Grammar. the extablished usage that requires that one word in a sentence should cause another to be of a particular form: the government of the verb by its subject.

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Origin of government

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Old French word governement.See govern, -ment

grammar notes for government

how to pronounce government

Normal phonological processes are reflected in a variety of pronunciations for government. Most commonly, the first [n] /n/ of [guhv-ern-muhnt] /ˈgʌv ərn mənt/ assimilates to the immediately following [m], /m/, with the resulting identical nasal sounds coalescing to give the pronunciation [guhv-er-muhnt]. /ˈgʌv ər mənt/. This pronunciation is considered standard and occurs throughout the U.S. For speakers in regions where postvocalic [r] /r/ is regularly lost, as along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South, the resulting pronunciation is [guhv—uh-muhnt] /ˈgʌv ə mənt/ or, with loss of the medial unstressed vowel, [guhv-muhnt]. /ˈgʌv mənt/. Further assimilation, in which the labiodental [v], /v/, in anticipation of the bilabial quality of the following [m], /m/, becomes the bilabial stop [b], /b/, leads in the South Midland and Southern U.S. to the pronunciation [guhb-muhnt]. /ˈgʌb mənt/. See isn’t.

OTHER WORDS FROM government

gov·ern·men·tal [guhv-ern-men-tl, ‐er-men‐], /ˌgʌv ərnˈmɛn tl, ‐ərˈmɛn‐/, adjectivegov·ern·men·tal·ly, adverbcoun·ter·gov·ern·ment, nounnon·gov·ern·ment, noun

non·gov·ern·men·tal, adjectivepro-gov·ern·ment, adjectivere·gov·ern·ment, nounsem·i·gov·ern·men·tal, adjectivesem·i·gov·ern·men·tal·ly, adverbsub·gov·ern·ment, nounun·der·gov·ern·ment, nounun·gov·ern·men·tal, adjectiveun·gov·ern·men·tal·ly, adverb

Words nearby government

gov., govern, Governador Valadares, governance, governess, government, governmentalism, governmentese, Government House, government-in-exile, government issue

Words related to government

authority, law, ministry, politics, power, regime, rule, state, union, bureaucracy, command, control, direction, domination, dominion, empire, execution, executive, governance, guidance

How to use government in a sentence

Unlike government funding, donations come with minimal accountability and no guaranteed public oversight.
Canopy Growth, a Canadian cannabis company, said it is accelerating its US growth strategy based on expectations of “significant reform” led by the Democratic party now that it controls two branches of government.
Coastal peasants and Afromestizos farmers continued to fight for independence from the central government.
In an economy where governments are printing money hand over fist, people want a more secure place to put their assets.

The good part about it, if you would call it that, is that it is impossible to imagine how the government would be able to block a lot of this harmful speech.
A few years back, designer John Galliano was fined by the government for sharing just such anti-semitic sentiments in public.
Not actual CIA agents, but U.S. government personnel who have worked very closely with the CIA, and who are fans of the show.
I think the response of the French government so far has been pretty appropriate in that regard.
The United States government might not release that information for years, if ever.
But most likely it was linked to the way priests identify with the poor in the face of government and criminal abuses.
Dockier, a prominent leader of the Levelers, in the times of the English commonwealth, was shot by order of the government.
The patriarchal decree of the government was a good deal of a joke on the plains, anyway—except when you were caught defying it!
History gives them scant notice, and the Federal government has failed to reward them as they deserve.
A royal decree (December 31, 1622) orders the Dominicans in the Philippines not to meddle in affairs of government.
For the first time in his experience the Corsican had to meet the forces of a nation and not of a government.

British Dictionary definitions for government

government

/ (ˈɡʌvənmənt, ˈɡʌvəmənt) /

noun

the exercise of political authority over the actions, affairs, etc, of a political unit, people, etc, as well as the performance of certain functions for this unit or body; the action of governing; political rule and administration

the system or form by which a community, etc, is ruledtyrannical government

the executive policy-making body of a political unit, community, etc; ministry or administrationyesterday we got a new government
(capital when of a specific country)the British Government

the state and its administrationblame it on the government
(as modifier)a government agency

regulation; direction

grammar the determination of the form of one word by another word

Derived forms of government

governmental (ˌɡʌvənˈmɛntəl, ˌɡʌvəˈmɛntəl), adjectivegovernmentally, adverb

Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Earliest governments

Modern governments

Political science

Classification

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Basic political systems

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Synonyms

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More from Merriam-Webster on government

gov·ern·ment

government

gov•ern•ment

Government

Government

government

Origin of government

grammar notes for government

how to pronounce government

OTHER WORDS FROM government

Words nearby government

Words related to government

How to use government in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for government

Derived forms of government