Noun

Singular government

Plural governments

government (plural governments)

1. The body with the power to make and/or enforce laws for a country, land area, people, or organization.
2. A group of people who hold a monopoly on the legitimate use of force in a given territory.
3. The state and its administration viewed as the ruling political power.
4. The management or control of a system.
5. The tenure of a chief of state.

Derived terms

• branch of government
• close enough for government work
• federal government
• government agent
• government bond
• government-censored
• government debt
• government house
• government issue
• government man
• government note
• government purchases
• government security
• government stroke
• government wharf
• governmental

• governmentese
• governmentwide
• head of government
• in government
• local government
• military government
• municipal government
• non-government
• parliamentary government
• petticoat government
• puppet government
• representative government
• seat of government
• self-government
• shadow government
• unitary government

Related terms

• govern
• governance
• governor

A government is the body within an organization that has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.

Typically, the government refers to a civil government which can be either local, national, or international. However, commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also governed by internal bodies. Such bodies may be called boards of directors, managers, or governors or they may be known as the administration (as in schools) or councils of elders (as in churches). The size of governments can vary by region or purpose.

Growth of an organization advances the complexity of its government, therefore small towns or small-to-medium privately-operated enterprises will have few officials compared to larger organizations such as multinational corporations which will have multiple interlocking, hierarchical layers of administration and governance. As complexity increases and the nature of governance becomes more complicated,so does the need for formal policies and procedures.

Public sector governance is studied as Public Administration while that in the private sector is studied as Business Administration.

The concept of government has been around since humanity itself where hunter-gatherers would commonly establish tribes high authority and have unique ideals. However, government is not limited to the human species itself as many animals establish groups such as ants, lions, and bees. Although, a common trait of animals, specifically mammals and colony insects are a social caste that may work in a governmental way.