Government

A government is the system or group of people who make and enforce rules for a country and its areas, which we call a state. It is often called a metonym for the state in discussions about how things are run.

In general, a government has three main parts: a legislature that makes laws, an executive that carries out the laws, and a judiciary that explains what the laws mean. Governments help decide what rules to follow and make sure everyone follows them. Many countries have a constitution, which is a document that explains the main ideas and beliefs behind how the government works.

There are many kinds of governments around the world. The main types today are democracies, where people choose their leaders, totalitarian regimes, where one group controls everything, and authoritarian regimes, which are in between. There are also monarchies, where a king or queen leads, and other mixes of these systems. In the past, governments have included aristocracy, oligarchy, theocracy, and tyranny, among others. How leaders get their power can differ, with common ways being electoral contest or hereditary succession.

Definitions and etymology

A government is the system used to run a country or community. It is the way a place makes and enforces rules, collects money, and provides services like schools and hospitals. There are about 200 big countries in the world, each with its own government, and many smaller areas within them also have their own local governments.

The word "government" comes from an old Greek word meaning "to steer," like guiding a ship with a rudder. Over time, it came to mean the way people control and manage their communities. In some places, "government" can also mean the group of leaders and their policies.

History

Main articles: Political history of the world and Political philosophy

Earliest governments

We do not know exactly when or where human government began, but history tells us about early governments. About 5,000 years ago, the first small city-states appeared. By the third to second millenniums BC, some of these grew into larger areas, such as Sumer, ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley civilization, and the Yellow River civilization.

One reason governments began was because of farming. Since the Neolithic Revolution, farming created extra food. This allowed people to focus on other jobs, like ruling over others or trying new ways to organize society. These activities helped governments form. As more people lived together, governments grew more complex to manage new problems and relationships. David Christian describes this change like how stars form, with new structures appearing suddenly.

Another reason for governments was to manage big projects, like building water systems. This needed organized leadership and teamwork, as seen in places like Mesopotamia. However, some places succeeded with simpler, less centralized ways of organizing.

Modern governments

In the late 1600s, governments began to change. Events like the English Civil War, Glorious Revolution in England, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution helped create governments where people had more say. The Soviet Union was the first large country with a Communist government. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, governments where people vote, called liberal democracy, became more common.

In the 1800s and 1900s, governments grew larger and took on more responsibilities. They started to set rules for big companies and to help care for people’s needs.

Political science

Main article: Political science

In political science, scholars try to sort and group different kinds of governments. This is not easy because governments can change over time and are often hard to describe clearly. Every government may say it is one kind, but in practice, it can be different. For example, a country might call itself a certain type of government, but the way it actually works might be quite different.

Because governments come from different ideas and movements, it can be tricky to know just what kind they are. Sometimes, the names used by political groups don’t match what they really do. Also, words that describe governments can mean different things in different places. This makes it difficult to put governments into simple boxes.

Measurement of governing

The quality of a government can be measured by the Government effectiveness index, which relates to political efficacy and state capacity. The political bias of a government can be measured relative to the median voter. The fiscal sustainability of a government measures how well fiscal policies, government budget balances, and the fiscal gap can be maintained in the long term. In some countries, current government budget balances and unfunded mandates have been found unsustainable.

Forms

Main article: List of forms of government

Further information: Mixed government

Plato in his book The Republic (375 BC) talked about five basic types of ways people can be led. These include:

• Aristocracy (rule by law and order)
• Timocracy (rule by honor and duty)
• Oligarchy (rule by wealth)
• Democracy (rule by liberty and equality)
• Tyranny (rule by fear)

These ways of leading can change over time, starting with the best and moving to the worst.

In his Politics, Aristotle talked more about Plato's ideas, looking at who has the power to lead: one person (an autocracy), a small group of people (an aristocracy), or all the people (a democracy, such as a republic).

Thomas Hobbes said that the way people are led depends on who is in charge. If it is one person, it is a monarchy. If it is everyone getting together, it is a democracy. If it is only some people, it is called an aristocracy.

Modern basic political systems

According to Yale professor Juan José Linz, there are three main types of ways people are led today: democracies, totalitarian regimes and, in between these two, authoritarian regimes with hybrid regimes. Another way to look at it includes monarchies as a separate type or mixed with the main three. Experts often call a dictatorship a type of authoritarianism or totalitarianism.

Autocracy

Main article: Autocracy

An autocracy is a way of leading where all the power is in the hands of one person, and their choices are not controlled by laws or regular checks by the people (except maybe by the threat of a coup d'état or mass insurrection). Absolute monarchy is a common type of autocracy where a king or queen leads without limits on their power. Most absolute monarchies pass power from parent to child, but some, like the Holy See, choose their leader through voting by a group of people. Other types of autocracy include tyranny, despotism, and dictatorship.

Aristocracy

Main article: Aristocracy

Aristocracy is a way of leading where power is held by a small, special group of people, such as a family that passes down power or a group with special rights. This group makes the rules, even if they are a small number compared to everyone else. Many kingdoms were aristocracies, though in modern kingdoms with rules, the king or queen may not have much real power. The word aristocracy can also mean the people who are not ordinary workers or farmers in old times.

Democracy

Main articles: Democracy and Types of democracy

Democracy is a way of leading where people have power by voting and talking about decisions. In a direct democracy, everyone gets together to decide each issue. In an indirect democracy, people choose leaders to make decisions for them, usually by election. These leaders then meet to lead the country.

Some countries mix both ways, where people choose leaders to handle everyday matters, but also have the right to decide important issues directly through popular initiatives, referendums, and the right of recall. In a constitutional democracy the powers of the majority are exercised within the framework of representative democracy, but the constitution limits majority rule, usually through the provision by all of certain universal rights, such as freedom of speech or freedom of association.

Republics

Main article: Republic

A republic is a way of leading where the country is run as a public matter, not as something that belongs to the leaders. People or a big part of them have the highest control over the government, and leaders are chosen by voting or by people who are chosen by voting.

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

Main article: Federalism

Federalism is a way of leading where a group of people agree to be led by someone chosen to represent them. The word "federalism" is also used to talk about a system where the power to lead is shared between a central leader and local leaders, called states, provinces or other groups. Federalism shares power to govern between national and local governments, making a group of states or areas called a federation. People who support this are often called federalists.

Branches

Further information: Separation of powers and Fusion of powers

Governments are usually set up with different groups, each having its own jobs and duties. How these groups share their powers can vary a lot. Some systems keep the powers separate, which is called the separation of powers. In other systems, the powers overlap, which is called the fusion of powers.

Many governments have three main groups: a group that makes laws, a group that carries out the laws, and a group that makes sure the laws are fair. But in some countries, like those with parliamentary or semi-presidential systems, these groups can share members and tasks. Some governments also have extra groups, like an independent group that handles elections or checks on money matters.

Party system

Further information: Political party and Party system

Most governments today are run by members of a political party. This party helps organize the work of government workers and people running for office. In places where many parties can exist, like in a multiparty system, parties often compete in elections to win control of the government.

Sometimes one party or a group of parties can win enough votes to control the government completely, called a majority government. Other times, they might need help from other parties to stay in power, which is called a minority government or a coalition government. In some countries, just one party always runs things, which is called a one-party system.

Maps

See also: List of countries by system of government

Democracy is the most common way that countries are run. Over half of the countries in the world use democracy, with 97 out of 167 countries as of 2021. However, some places are moving away from democratic ways, with a quarter of the world's people living in areas where democratic rights are shrinking.

Public administration

Main article: Public administration

Government property, state-owned businesses, public services, civil servants, and government employees together make up the public sector of the economy. In modern developed countries, public services often include courts, education, electricity, emergency services, environmental protection, health care, mail, the military, policing, public buildings, public broadcasting, public libraries, public parks, public utilities, public transportation, social services, state schools, telecommunications, transportation infrastructure, urban planning, waste management, and water supply networks. In developing countries, public services are often less developed. For example, water services might only be available to wealthier groups. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 is a global effort to improve public services and infrastructure for all people.

In the middle of the twentieth century, the ideas of German sociologist Max Weber about bureaucracy brought new interest to the study of public administration.

Public policy

Main article: Public policy

Public policy is all the things a government does, both directly and indirectly. It touches many parts of our lives like school, hospitals, jobs, money, and roads. Making public policy is a changing and complicated process where people work together to find solutions to problems by creating new rules or changing old ones. Government spending helps with important things such as keeping people safe, paying for hospitals, supporting families, and many other services that help communities.