What is Government: Definition and 125 Discussions

A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.

In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a mechanism for determining policy. Each government has a kind of constitution, a statement of its governing principles and philosophy.
While all types of organizations have governance, the term government is often used more specifically, to refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments and subsidiary organizations.
Historically prevalent forms of government include monarchy, aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, theocracy and tyranny. The main aspect of any philosophy of government is how political power is obtained, with the two main forms being electoral contest and hereditary succession.

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  1. W

    News Should ACORN lose Government Funding?

    ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is in the news again. http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5315657.shtml Should any more tax payer funds be given to ACORN or should they first be investigated?
  2. J

    News Government a non-conservative force?

    I am continually more and more astounded by the applications of Physics to all the different forces in the universe. I am now on chapter 8 of physics for dummies(had to find a text on my level) and it is talking about conservative and non-conservative forces. Could this even apply to the...
  3. D H

    News Government does not fund peer-reviewed journal articles—publishers do

    "Government does not fund peer-reviewed journal articles—publishers do". That is the (IMHO rather outrageous) statement by Allan Adler, Association of American Publishers VP for government and legal affairs to the House Judiciary Committee last week regarding the...
  4. P

    News In order to eradicate all political corruption in government

    ... in order to make sure the political ideologies like individual liberty, freedom of speech and a plethora of other ideals of great statemens like the Founding fathers of the US are carried on from generations to come wi , would it just be best for the people if human-like machines ran the...
  5. T

    News Is the Canadian government dispute an abuse of rules?

    First of all, I would like to say hi, I've been lurking here for a while (and finally bothered to register), and I know there are some Canadians here and I'm somewhat surprised hadn't seen anything on what's going on up here. Admittedly, I was out of the loop in the end of term crunch...until I...
  6. W

    News Why are people so trusting of the government?

    I'm not sure whether to put this here or in the philosophy forum, but I figure since it applies to this forum more, I could put it here. I apologize if I'm wrong... On this specific politics sub-forum I see a lot of people dismissing criticisms of the government, whether it be secret...
  7. S

    News Should the government bail out GM?

    There is no wonder GM is going under since it hasn't been selling fuel efficient vehicles in America. Now they are going under because people aren't buying as many big trucks and SUVs. GM sells fuel efficient vehicles in other countries that they don't sell here, and why? Why should they...
  8. W

    US government reports gas price drop in April

    According to the US government Consumer Price Index, the price of gasoline dropped in April. I kid you not. I was a 0.2% drop. So how many of you experienced this drop in April? Some areas must have had a BIG drop to compensate for the BIG rise in my town.
  9. wolram

    Life without Government: Could Civilisation Survive?

    Could there be a civilised way to live without central government? suppose some catastrophe wiped out your countries government, would there be a priority to replace it?
  10. K

    I attend college on a government grant?

    Hi all, I am in poor finance and I would like to attend college. My father died in Vietnam; can I attend college on a government grant? One of my friends told that I could attend college on a government grant because my father died as a result of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. Is this true and...
  11. Ivan Seeking

    News Government controlling your home

    http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/11/america/calif.php The obvious problem is that the government never keeps its promises - anyone who thinks it will stop here is incredibly naive. Eventually they will try to take over your home entirely. It's how the simple minds of bureaucrats work -...
  12. G

    Federal grants from the government to start their businesses

    Hello, I am trying to start a business. I found on the internet that men and women can obtain free federal grant money for education, start up businesses and rehabilitate or purchase real estate. I also saw that Ross Perouse, George Bush and Paul Newman received federal grants from the...
  13. F

    News Do Americans Now Favor Government Intervention in the Economy?

    http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7BA0785CDE%2D37D3%2D4306%2D93CF%2DF1CECC6C7513%7D Maybe it's time for another New Deal, but that will never happen. We all know what happened after the first one...
  14. R

    China bans reincarnating without government permission

    The government of China is making moves to "institutionalize management of reincarnation." Government managing reincarnation? LOL. I was under the, apparently incorrect, impression that the government of China would cease making obvious fools of themselves before the '08 Olympics. Ooops...
  15. moe darklight

    Canadian government tries to make energy conservation hip

    Canadian government tries to make energy conservation "hip" http://www.flickoff.org/ get it?? FLICK OFF! as in flick off the lights and save energy! but omg! it looks just like F**K OFF... NOT! I'm so amused!... TO THE X-TREEEME! O HELLZZZ YEA! THAT'S OUR SUPER RAD ENVIRONMENT MINISTER...
  16. quantumdude

    US Government keeping tabs on citizens via driver's licenses.

    Apparently, an agency is being contracted by the US Government to keep track of everyone's driver's license. All anyone needs to know about you to view your license (picture and all) is your name and the state you live in. See if yours is in there, mine is. Link
  17. F

    News Airbus - a case against government intervention in corporations?

    I have seen many topics on this forum about how the influence of private interests has made a mess in Washington. If the below article is to be believed, Airbus is an example of how government interests can make a mess of a private company (and in a case like this, I use the term "private"...
  18. edward

    News Government Private Contractors Now Outnumber Government Employees

    It is time to crack down on the number of government contractors. Many that we have currently are of questionable honesty. They, as the llink suggests, have become a fourth branch of government. CACI International, the one the GSA just hired to investigate other contractors was recently under...
  19. ShawnD

    Ever wonder why drugs are so expensive? Blame the government

    This came to me when I was doing some routine work yesterday; I work in the QC lab for a drug company which makes drugs for HIV and hepatitis. The lab is under GMP which means everything is tested multiple times and the amount of paperwork involved is staggering. When a bulk truck of acetone...
  20. C

    News Turning search queries over to the government?

    What exactly will the US government do when search engines like AOL, google turn over the search queries over to the government?
  21. turbo

    News Can US citizens regain control of our government?

    Our government is supposed to be a representative body - that is, we citizens are not given the right to participate in a true democracy, but we are allowed to elect representatives who we expect to vote on our behalf. This system has been broken for a very long time. It seems like no matter...
  22. M

    Federal government spying on journalists using phone records

    According to one of http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/federal_source_.html, the federal government is using the collected phone records of journalists to find "leaks." This directly contradicts Bush's http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/11/bush.transcript/index.html/ that "our...
  23. S

    News Surprising Change in Government: Separation of Church & State

    I never thought I would see this day. Oh well. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032101723.html" Granted that previous administrations gave taxpayer money to organizations allied with them, atleast on social issues, it promoted the separation of the church...
  24. Astronuc

    News Enron - a case for government regulation of corporations

    We often hear of 'free enterprise', 'free markets', 'less regulation', and so on, but what happens when the managers of a company act in criminal or negligent fashion. The ENRON trial is now heating up with testimony from Jeff Skilling and later this month, Kenneth Lay. Both claim innocence...
  25. Pengwuino

    Oh no the government saw what I read, shut up, you don't care

    There's something really odd going on with America I think... This rant is oddly enough, brought to you from a short snippet from a commercial for Bill Maher's show. He basically said 'Why are we all so concerned about privacy and the government, people are practically detailing their entire...
  26. N

    News Is the Ukrainian Government Split Following the Russian Oil Stand Off?

    Following the Ukranian vs. Russian oil stand off last week, 250 of the Ukrainian's 450 deputies have put their names to a vote of non confidance in the government, who have agreed to double their payment to Russia. Does this sound like anyone to a state standing up to Russian aggression in...
  27. F

    News Does the U.S. Have the World's Oldest Living Government?

    The question is simple: with the exception of city-states (like the Vatican), does the United States possesses the world's oldest living government? I ask because every nation I could think of has had at least one of the following since 1789 (the beginning of the current system of U.S...
  28. W

    Foil Helmets Can't Foil Government Mind Probes

    http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/
  29. S

    News How Much Government Funding And Control Over Science Fields?

    [SOLVED] How Much Government Funding And Control Over Science Fields? How government control is over the all science fields in countries like Canada, USA, and Britain? How about in the East like South Korea and Japan? How much control and funding? Do you think government controlling the...
  30. R

    News The Australian Government is not perfect

    The Australian Government is not perfect. Sorry, just had to get that one out before it becomes illegal here. At the rate we're going, it looks like a statement such as the one above will be outlawed at about 3pm today local time. I hope they don't pass the law retrospectively, or I'm a...
  31. P

    News Government Accountability Report on voting machines

    Released last friday: http://www.bradblog.com/Docs/GAOReport_ElectionSecurity_102105.pdf (don't be fooled by the link name, it's the real report.) This is being discussed all over the progressive websites. The GAO is non partisan, lending bipartisan support to concerns that (from the...
  32. D

    News Government milking us like cows; Oil

    Why are we introducing hybrid cars? So some of them reduce emissions by 50%, 75%... but by the time everyone has one, the number of drivers on the road is going to have doubled, tripled, possible quadrupled, and the same amount of emissions will still be being put out because of this! Let's stop...
  33. R

    News USA-backed Iraq government a shining beacon of err

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051010/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_051010195209" These are the people the US administration initially put in power - our "shining beacon of Democracy". :smile: What's your take on this?
  34. G

    Interesting Economics That I Learned-Big Government is Better

    From the Investment savingings model (IS) equation GDP (Y) is a function of consumption C, Investment I, and government spending G Y=C(y,r)+I(r)+G Consumption is a function of disposable income (income minus tax. national income is also the same as GDP) y which is y=Y-T and the interest...
  35. T

    Schools University vs. government research

    I am wondering about the advantages/disadvantages of pursuing a career in physics at a univeristy vs. government research. Do government research projects greatly restrict what work may be done?
  36. L

    News Oklahoma City Case Reopened: Government Sting Gone Wrong?

    http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/05/42/news-schou.php http://www.mccurtain.com/articles/2005/07/30/news/news001.txt I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but this one might necessitate some more looking in to. ~Lyuokdea Edit by Ivan: Copyright infringement. Please post only excerpts...
  37. K

    News Iraq Constitution Draft: Islam as Main Source of Legislation

    BAGHDAD (AP) — Framers of Iraq's constitution will designate Islam as the main source of legislation — a departure from the model set down by U.S. authorities during the occupation — according to a draft published Tuesday. The draft states no law will be approved that contradicts "the rules...
  38. Pengwuino

    News [Poll] Should highly biased art be placed in government buildings

    [Poll] Should highly biased art be placed in US government buildings So what do you think? Should partisan artwork be allowed in government buildings such as court houses, libraries, and the DMV (or as its more popularly known as, hell). And to clarify, artwork that would be considered a...
  39. S

    Maybe will get a government job help me.

    I've sent in an application to the office of personel in oklahoma for a position statistical analyst, and I called them, and they say that they are mailing a letter for me to go and take an exam. I've never taken any exam for a job before, so I don't know what to expect. Is this a test that...
  40. B

    Ideas for Research Paper on Society, Education & Government

    My English teacher has canceled class once again and I thought I could spend a couple minutes information gathering. I'm supposed to write a research paper on anything to do with society, education and government (so basically anything I want), and I'm fishing for ideas. At the moment I'm not...
  41. wasteofo2

    News Dick Durbin: This week, Iraq had trouble forming it's government.

    I was just watching a replay of Meet The Press, and Dick Durbin (the Democratic Whip in the Senate) was cautioning about being overly-optimistic about Iraq, noting that THIS WEEK Iraq had trouble FORMING ITS GOVERNMENT. Jesus, what the hell is wrong with this guy? It was 13 years between our...
  42. wasteofo2

    News When, if ever, should the government legislate morality?

    Lots of different groups claim in lots of different instances that they believe that the government shouldn't legislate morality, but I don't think that anyone truly believes this in full. For instance, it is a moral stance that you should not murder people, steal from people, enslave people...
  43. Loren Booda

    News How does the government of the United States compare?

    Much criticism has been directed at the democracy of the United States lately. What country, U. S. or other, do you believe practices the nearest to ideal government?
  44. S

    News What Alternative kind of Government do you Support?

    In this thread everyone get's to express what kind of alternative Government you think we should have? Rules are: No arguing for Democracy No arguing for Republic No arguing for Fascism No arguing for Communism Why: Because we've tried those before, (except maybe communism according...
  45. Loren Booda

    News What type of government do the ins s in Iraq seek to impose?

    What type of government do the insurgents in Iraq seek to impose? If insurgents succeed in establishing a state based on terrorism, would it not be fractious and set Iraqi society back a millennium (a la Afghanistan under the Taliban), or would it ally with one of the existing Iraqi political...
  46. wasteofo2

    News Know any good resources for general government operation/procedure?

    I find myself asking lots and lots of questions about how the government operates, and I just can't seem to find it out. What I'm specifically looking for are the following: - Whether or not I will be able to vote in any 2006 primaries (congress, governor, etc.) if I am 18 by the time of Nov...
  47. S

    News Government based on skill instead of number

    http://www.technocracyinc.org/periodicals/digest/320/whats-so-hard.html I like this Idea, I think a government based on skill instead of numbers would be a very interesting prospect. Any thoughts?
  48. J

    The US and the Possibility of a World Government

    "The Government" Do you think that we, the US, are taken steps towards a worldly government? we have broken away from the UN we are having other nations following us and taking international affairs into our own hands since we are governing other countries could we infact be starting the...
  49. wasteofo2

    News Government officials that have been attacked by other government officials?

    Most everyone knows about the duel Alexander Hamilton and AAron Burr got in. Today in American Studies we were going over the differences between the Senate and House of Representatives, and we learned that in the House of Representatives there's a limit on time alloted for speaking so that...
  50. BobG

    News Government Intelligence - does it exist?

    US intelligence agencies have been in the public eye a lot, lately. We've heard how they missed opportunities to prevent 9/11 (9/11 Report), how bad intelligence lead us into the Iraq war (http://intelligence.senate.gov/iraqreport2.pdf ), and the intelligence estimates on the current state of...
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