What Is Government?
Government is the way people organize themselves to achieve collective goals and provide benefits that the society as a whole needs. The main goals governments try to accomplish are economic prosperity, secure national borders and the safety and well-being of citizens. Governments have the power to raise taxes and to spend money on things such as schools, police and fire departments, hospitals and parks.
People choose how their government is run by voting for people to represent them in the local, state and federal level. These people, referred to as representatives, make laws to govern the nation, state or local area. They also create budgets that determine how funds will be allocated for various services. Governments may also have a military force to protect the citizens from terrorist attacks and other major threats.
There are different types of government, or polities, from dictatorships to democracies. There are also many combinations of these forms, which can include a mixture of democracy and dictatorship or a mix of liberal and conservative ideologies. The most common form of government today is the republic.
The concept of government began with the need to assert and maintain some measure of peace and security over long distances. The need to do this necessitated the creation of large armies and required that some form of rule be established over the land, people and resources. It became necessary to record property ownership and the names of governing officials. In doing so, the earliest form of bureaucracy developed.
Modern classifications of government systems attempt to define categories such as totalitarian regime, democratic system and authoritarian regime and then distinguish between a variety of hybrid systems. However, the definitions are fluid and overlapping in many cases, and there is considerable debate over which is the best type of government.
A central issue in the study of government is the nature of power and how it is accumulated and used. For example, how do political systems balance between individual liberty and security? This is reflected in decisions about things like whether or not to tap citizens’ phones or how much to restrict the content of newspapers.
The government is a vital part of our society, but it is important that citizens understand how their government operates and are aware of its activities. This is not possible if the information is shrouded in secrecy or confidentiality. That is why the legislature believes that public access to government information is a fundamental right and that agencies should not deny this right by hiding records from the citizens. In doing this, the legislature reflects the belief that a free society is maintained when government is transparent and accountable to the people. This is especially true when government acts in the people’s name to solve problems or provide services.