Government (from the Latin word gubernare, meaning to steer) is the body invested with the power to manage a political unit or organization or more often, a State. Governments exist in many forms: monarchy, oligarchy, democracy (direct or representative), autocracy, communism and socialism.
One of the most important functions of government is to provide goods and services that cannot be easily supplied by the market, such as national security, education and public lands and wildlife. Governments also regulate access to these goods, so that everyone has a chance to use them.
The people elect representatives to city councils, state legislatures and Congress to make laws for their governments and raise money through taxes on income, property and sales. Local, state and national government agencies then receive these funds to provide the public with goods and services.
In the United States, for example, a city government allocates money to things like education, police and fire departments, and parks. A state government allocates money for highway construction, and a federal government allocates funds for defense and to support the social safety net, including Social Security and Medicare.
Governments have different leanings toward the values and priorities of citizens. For example, if the government focuses on reducing economic inequalities, it might relax regulations that limit the freedom of businesses to hire workers and to raise their wages. Then, it might promote programs to help the poor. Another example of a government’s leaning is how it deals with issues such as privacy, where government may decide to allow law enforcement to tap private phone conversations or restrict what newspapers can print.
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