What does the word government means

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

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

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

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]

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading

• de Mesquita, Bruce Bueno; Smith, Alastair (2012). The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610390446. OCLC 1026803822.
• de Mesquita, Bruce Bueno; Smith, Alastair; Siverson, Randolph M.; Morrow, James D. (2003). The Logic of Political Survival. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262025461. OCLC 475265120.
• Dobson, William J. (2013). The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy. New York: Anchor. ISBN 978-0307477552. OCLC 849820048.
• Friedrich, Carl J.; Brzezinski, Zbigniew K. (1966) [1965]. Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy (2nd ed.). New York: Frederick A. Praeger. ISBN 9780674895652. OCLC 826626632.
• Krader, Lawrence (1968). Formation of the State. Foundations of Modern Anthropology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0133294900. OCLC 266086412.

Asked by: Fiona Jones

Score: 4.5/5
(36 votes)

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.

What does the word government mean to you?

1 : control and direction of public business (as of a city or a nation) The mayor makes decisions regarding the government of city departments. 2 : a system of control : an established form of political rule a democratic government. 3 : the people making up a governing body Their governments are committed to peace.

What is government in your own words?

The definition of government is the exercise of control or authority over a group of people. … The body with the power to make and/or enforce laws to control a country, land area, people or organization.

What does it mean to represent government?

representation, in government, method or process of enabling the citizenry, or some of them, to participate in the shaping of legislation and governmental policy through deputies chosen by them.

What is the best definition for government?

government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated.

43 related questions found

But if the duty of the government is to prevent violations of the rights of individuals (and I believe it is) and punish those violations in proportion to their severity (seems reasonable) then, perhaps, these activities aren’t so very far apart as far as * government* is concerned? ❋ Unknown (2009)

The U.S. government has seldom been perfect, but it has been very helpful to its citizens, providing everything from farm-to-market roads, to interstate highways, to silicon chips yes, Fairchild conductor built them, but for the *government* first, to the internet. ❋ Unknown (2008)

“When someone asks us whether we want a sectarian government the answer is ’no we do not want a sectarian government’ — not because the U.S. ambassador says so or issues a warning. ‘ ❋ Unknown (2006)

The government on Thursday gave foreign militants until the end of the month to leave Congo, warning that a joint U. N.-government military offensive would drive any remaining fighters from the war-ravaged Central African nation. ❋ Unknown (2005)

South Africa should have a predominantly unified legislative and administrative fiscal and public financial system: it should be a joint fiscal system under leadership of national government, and not a rigidly divided system between national and provincial levels of government*. ❋ Unknown (1995)

The constitution should include provisions both for borrowing by local government as well as for guarantees for local government loans as is the case for provincial government*. ❋ Unknown (1995)

No! but _it gives an additional security; _ for, beside the power in the State government to use their own militia, it will be _the duty of the general government_ to aid them WITH THE ❋ American Anti-Slavery Society (N/A)

The word _government_ also signifies the rules and principles themselves by which the people are governed; and sometimes the persons who administer the government — that is those who make the laws of a state and carry them into effect — are called _the government_. ❋ Andrew W. Young (N/A)

_Attack on the orders of the government, by the auditors commanding the royal officials to pay them their thirds [of salary], notwithstanding any order of government_. ❋ James Alexander Robertson (1906)

Though it was the cruel and depraved offspring of the British government, it nevertheless was adopted by the _free government_ of America. ❋ George W. Williams (1870)

Next to the want of all government, the two most fruitful sources of evil to children are, _unsteadiness_ in government and _over — government_. ❋ Harriet Beecher Stowe (1853)

I think government only helps keep the current monopolies going because humans are naturally driven by self-interest, * including those in the government*. ❋ Mark (2010)

«President Obama’s whole-of-U. S.-government approach in both nations has drawn civilian and military expertise from across the United States government to help Afghans and Iraqis build a resilient, sustainable agricultural sector, not only helping strengthen the economies of both nations but also contributing greatly to our security here in the United States» ❋ Unknown (2010)

I must confess it is to me new language, which I never heard before, that the dispensing of the word and sacraments is a part of church government; sure the word _government_ is not, nor never was, so understood in the controversies concerning church government. ❋ George Gillespie (1630)

The government media office said in a statement that some media have launched «a coordinated campaign against the Iraqi government» with recent reports of strife between U. S.-allied Sunni paramilitary fighters and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government.

He’s being prepped to be part of the coming world-wide government that is going to be installed on this earth and he will be part of the ruling and reigning over the nations of this world, when the time comes for the Messiah of Israel to establish * His government* over this world. ❋ Unknown (2009)

The FAO are in Egypt to assist the Egyptian government and projects implemented by the cooperation with other external actors are «at the request of the government», stressing that these projects did not face any obstacles government. ❋ Unknown (2008)

_federal union_, and the government the _federal government_. ❋ Andrew W. Young (N/A)

The government is us; we are the government, you and I — [Theodore Roosevelt], [26th] President of the United States.
it’s still [we the people]… not we the IRS, not we the Bush Administration! YOU AND ME AND DON’T LET THEM FORGET THAT!!! ❋ Weownnotthem (2008)

«don’t be using my government [out here] in [the street] [like that]» ❋ Killer Mike (2003)

» let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us » — Franklin [Delano] Roosevelt, [July 9th], 1938, [Marietta] Ohio ❋ Luke Johns (2018)

[You people] may despise the government and taxes, but you must realize that roads, [hospitals], police, etc. don’t come out of nowhere. What? You expect other people to do all these things for you, without you making any kind of [contribution]? ❋ Jace W (2007)

… [too many] to [list].
[oh yea], government. ❋ Scarlit (2008)

Don’t you just love how [the government] takes your money and [dumps] it into [the toilet]? ❋ The DON (2002)

❋ Soiled Undergarment (2003)

government ❋ Jackypants12…MC (2014)

1: Hey what’s up
2: I heard that the votes a-*controlled by government*[stutters] are going towards Donald Trump!
1: Wait, WHAT?!
2: *puts on [tin foil hat] while looking like a [dunce]*
2: I meant they’re being controlled by the KKK ❋ SANS UNDERTALE IS FORTNITE?!? (2017)

The American government cured smallpox, broke up monopolies, develop the interstate highway system, insisted upon [voting rights] for all adults, eliminated [usury], preserved massive plots of land for conservation, sent satellites into space leading to modern communication, researched international communication leading to the internet, tripled the lifespan of the average American over the past 100 years, and risked [life and limb] to provide food for Somalia, end apartheid rule in South Africa, liberate the women of Afghanistan, stop the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia and protect the soveriegn rights of people in Kuwait. ❋ Seth Wellbourne (2006)

The term ‘government’ may refer to the manner or process of governing a country or a specific system we use for controlling a country. Government also means the group of people who control a country and make national decisions. In other words, the term may refer to a process, the system that is in place, or a group of people.

When Americans hear the word ‘government’ they usually think of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Britons, on the other hand, think of the Houses of Parliament in London.

According to the Oxford Living Dictionaries, the term has the following meanings:

1. The group of people with the authority to govern a country or state; a particular ministry in office.”

“2. The system by which a state or community is governed. 3. The action or manner of controlling or regulating a state, organization, or people.”

Etymology of government

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and how their meanings have evolved.

In the English language, the term has existed since the late fourteenth century with the meaning ‘act of government or ruling.’ In the 1550s, it acquired the meaning ‘system by which a thing, especially a state, is governed.’

The term comes from Old French Governement, which meant ‘control, direction, administration.’ In 1702, the English word also acquired the meaning ‘governing power in a given place.’

Government – group of people governing

When it means a group of people governing a country, the term is similar to ‘a clan.’ It aims to govern the whole family or nation with powers of military, financial, and civil laws.

Its main purpose is to protect and improve the welfare of its citizens. It also seeks to fulfill citizens’ needs for the betterment of the country.

Most governments consist of a legislature, executive, and judiciary.

Legislature

The legislature is a body of people who make, change, or repeal the country’s or state’s laws.

People often, especially Americans, refer to those who work in this the legislature as ‘lawmakers.’ Britons refer to them as MPs (Members of Parliament).

In a democracy, there are elections in which the people vote for their lawmakers. We refer to those who vote as the ‘electorate.’

Executive

The executive is the government organ that exercises authority in and holds responsibility for the governance of the country.

In the US, for example, the executive is the President, Vice President, and his or her Cabinet. In the UK, Canada, or Australia, it is the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet.

Government Ministers also make up the executive.

The Australian Parliamentary Education Office says the following regarding the roles of the executive:

“Leaders of the executive governments of Australia and the US – the Prime Minister and the President – share their responsibilities with members of their respective Cabinets.”

“Each Cabinet member is a high-ranking member of the government and is responsible for the leadership of a government department.”

Judiciary

The judiciary or judicial system is the system of courts that interprets and applies legislation. In other words, the courts, judges, magistrates, etc. who interpret and apply the law in the name of the state. A magistrate is a volunteer judge who works in a magistrate court.

We also call this part of government the ‘court system‘ or ‘judicial branch.’

BusinessDictionary.com has the following meaning of judicial branch:

“One of the three primary branches of a government in most democratic countries the other two being executive and Legislative branches.”

“It includes the Chief Justice and all courts and agencies under his or her direct control to protect citizens.”

Capital ‘G’ or lower case ‘g’?

When we are talking about the specific Government of a nation, we use a capital ‘G.’ In other words, the body that decides a specific country’s policy.

If, on the other hand, we are referring to the government in general, we use a ‘g‘ in lower case form.

Look at these two examples:

– ‘The Government has just announced that it will raise the retirement age from 65 to 70 years.’ In this case, we are specific. So, we use a capital ‘G.’

– ‘In most countries, national and local government taxes are collected separately.’ Here, we use a lower case ‘g‘ because the term has a general meaning.

Civil servants and bureaucracy

Bureaucrats or civil servants are government workers too. However, they have not been elected.

If I need a new birth certificate, for example, I will communicate with civil servants rather than lawmakers.

Civil servants or bureaucrats make up the bureaucracy.