A government is a group or system of individuals governing a nation, usually a country. In some countries, the government consists of a central government and various decentralized governments at the regional, national and local levels. In other countries, the government consists of a central government but the governments are decentralized. When referring to a government, it usually refers to the supreme body in a nation. The government includes the president, prime minister, cabinet, legislature, attorney general, judges, ministers, local municipalities, sheriffs, collectors, licensing boards, tribunals, commissioners, etc.
Decisions by the citizens directly affect the government structure. It can be seen in many ways: in what they do, how they do it, how the government acts towards their needs and demands, etc. For instance, when deciding how to run a car dealership, local business owners must give a lot of importance to the way they run their business. They have to give priorities to customer satisfaction, product quality and service and their own profitability. If they fail in any of these key aspects, they run the risk of being taken over by a bigger company who will provide better service and products at a better price. This is exactly what has happened to big car companies such as General Motors, Chrysler and Ford; and why there are now thousands of car dealerships all over the United States and Canada.
The government structure is also very complex because there are a lot of agencies that are needed to perform different tasks and for different purposes. At the national level, the government consists of the executive branch, the federal government itself, which consists of the President, the Vice-President, cabinet members and secretaries and then the various House and Senate committees. The executive branch decides what the laws are and how they should be implemented. There are many branches of government within the executive branch that determine the overall direction of the country.
The federal government further subdivides into state governments, city governments, regional governments, state university governments and metropolitan cities. Each of these local governments have their own power structures which determine how the general public feels about the general performance of the government. The state governments, for example, govern themselves and set the rules and procedures necessary for their citizens to submit tax returns or make other business dealings with the government. The cities have zoning rules and regulations that limit how much development can take place on the land of the city and submit an annual city budget.
When it comes to the central government, there are two different types of governments – direct and indirect. Direct government consists of the president, the prime minister and cabinet members and secretaries. Indirect government takes the form of state legislatures and provincial cabinets. There are usually common resources that exist across the various levels of government like labour, transportation and health care. All these resources depend on the central government for the operation of day-to-day operations. Direct government operates through its agencies and departments.
Although direct government has evolved into a complex structure, all levels of government have remained accountable to the taxpayers. It is because of this accountability that has kept the government honest and efficient. Indirect government structures, by contrast, are less complicated and rely on the central government for the operation of various levels. For example, most provinces govern themselves through their cabinet and legislative assembly. In the United States, the federal government passes legislation through what are called legislations. Direct and indirect government structures are both used for the overall management of the country.