What Is Government?
Government is the system of laws and enforcement by which a civil, corporate, religious, academic or other organization or group of people exercises authority and maintains order. It is also the body that determines the policies of a society and, in most cases, has a charter or constitution that defines its governing principles and philosophy. A government’s basic function is to protect and promote the social and economic welfare of its citizens. It may be a school board, city council, township board of supervisors, state or federal government. Governments are also often characterized as being democratic, totalitarian or autocratic with a wide variety of hybrid systems and regimes in between these broad categories.
Whether or not a government is successful in its mission depends on how it manages the resources of its territory, which ideals it supports, and what economic and social problems it chooses to address. If a government chooses to promote an ideal of individualism, for example, it might reduce regulations on business and industry or cut taxes in order to encourage growth. Conversely, if a government favors egalitarianism and wants to destroy socioeconomic inequalities, it might increase tax rates or provide services such as public transportation and health care for the poor.
The majority of Americans agree that the government should be active in helping people find jobs, providing education, protecting the environment and keeping citizens safe. However, there are substantial differences between Republicans and Democrats over how much the government should do in each area.
A majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners say the federal government should play a major role in fighting terrorism (95%), managing the immigration system (88%), and ensuring access to health care (76%). There is less agreement among Republicans and Republican leaners on the role that the federal government should play in protecting the environment (52%), keeping the country safe from terrorism (49%), and lifting people out of poverty (45%).
Regardless of their views about how much power the government should have, most Americans agree that the nation’s leaders should be held accountable for their actions and should have limited powers and responsibilities. They also agree that citizens should have the right to vote for their representatives, and they should be able to express their opinions freely in the media and through other means. In addition, most Americans believe that the judicial system should be independent of the executive and legislative branches of government. They also think that government officials should be able to serve multiple terms in office and that the public should have access to information about how their money is spent. These are all core features of a democracy.