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A government is an organisation that has a privileged position within a certain territory. There are several definitions on what exactly constitutes a government.

Government can be defined as the political means of creating and enforcing laws; typically via a bureaucratic hierarchy. Under this definition, a purely despotic organisation which controls a territory without defining laws would not be considered a government.

A common definition from political philosophy holds that the government is the organisation that holds a monopoly in legitimate use of violence within its territory. The definition of "legitimate" is then open to discussion, and implies that an organisation may be considered a government by its supporters but not by its detractors.

An alternative is to define a government as an organisation that attempts to maintain control of a territory, where "control" involves activities such as collecting taxes, controlling entry and exit to the state, preventing encroachment of territory by neighbouring states and preventing the establishment of alternative governments within the state.

Governments concern themselves with many issues, such as economics, education, health, science, territory, and war.

The modern standard unit of territory comprises a country. The word state can refer either to a government or to its territory. Within a territory, subnational entities may have local governments which do not have the full power of a national government.

Governments use a variety of methods to maintain control, such as police and military forces, (particularly under despotism, see also police state), making agreements with other states, and maintaining support within the state; infrastructure. Typical methods of maintaining support include infrastructure providing justice, administration and social welfare, claiming support of deities, providing benefits to influential groups, holding elections for important posts within the state, limiting the power of the state through laws and constitutions and appealing to nationalism. Groups opposed to government control include libertarians and anarchists.

Various forms of government have been implemented or proposed. A government in a developed state is likely to have various sub-organisations known as offices, departments, or agencies, which are headed by politically appointed officials, often called ministers or secretaries. Ministers may in theory act as advisors to the head of state, but in practice have a certain amount of direct power in specific areas. In most modern democracies, the elected legislative assembly has the power to dismiss the government, though the head of state generally has great latitude in appointing a new one.

See also

• system of government
• head of government
• politics
• political philosophy
• political science
• cabinet
• executive
• legislature
• egovernment
• anarchism

External Links

• Government portal - United States Library of Congress