Government is a system or group of people governing an organized community, typically a nation. A government has many roles, but most of them are centered on making laws and looking after the people. Governments also have a role in providing goods and services, including security, education, health care and housing. They often raise money by taxing the citizens. They also promote economic development and provide benefits like unemployment insurance, social security and health and education subsidies.
Governments are formed by elected representatives. They make laws, impose taxes and draft budgets to determine how funds are allocated. City councils, state legislatures and Congress all form different forms of government. They decide how to raise funds by imposing taxes on income, property and sales, and they draft laws to govern their jurisdictions. They create a structure by which public goods and services can be made available to the citizens, such as police and fire departments, public education, public transportation, mail service, food for the poor, and housing for the homeless.
The oldest and simplest justification for government is that it provides security. Without a central authority to protect them, citizens would suffer from the chaos of violence. Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan describes the horror of a world with no government to keep order. The modern world demonstrates the importance of this function, and the need for governments to balance national security needs against individual liberty.
Another important function of a government is to protect common goods, such as the sea or clean drinking water, that everyone can use but is in limited supply. This is a necessary protection so that a few people cannot take all the resources and leave others with nothing. Governments can also help with the distribution of private goods, which is especially important in countries with high levels of poverty and inequality.
A final important function of a government is to promote social equity, which requires reducing wealth disparities between citizens and encouraging social mobility. This can be achieved through policies such as job training, universal healthcare and educational subsidies. Governments can also promote environmental sustainability by regulating the production of harmful substances and encouraging the use of renewable energy.
The government has three main parts: the executive, legislative and judicial branches. The president makes policy, recommends laws to Congress and oversees a number of departments and offices which carry out these policies. The president appoints people to serve as ministers in these departments, and they form a group called the cabinet. The legislative branch (Congress) passes laws, and the judicial branch interprets those laws and decides whether they are constitutional. This system of checks and balances ensures that no one branch can become too powerful. It also protects individuals from being abused by the power of the state. Governments also protect citizens’ rights to freedom of speech and the press. They can even punish those who break these rights. However, not all governments do these things.