The Nature of Government

A government is a group or organization of individuals governing a nation, usually a country. Most often the term refers to the central government of a nation, which includes the government of the country as well as various government organizations such as the federal government, state governments and local municipalities. The term “government” has other meanings including state governments, organs of local government (such as school districts) and even privately owned enterprises. In most nations, the term “government” is used in reference to the institution of accountable government.

Historically, the concept of government was used by aristocrats as the means to keep their societies intact through violence. Through various techniques such as torture and imprisonment, the elite were able to keep their subjects from rising up against them and instituting democracy. As the concept of government spread to other parts of the world, it also caused political chaos in many countries that resulted in the establishment of numerous political parties and assemblies. These parties helped to bring change to government though some were more successful than others. One of these parties, known as the Labor party in England, was formed as an attempt to institute democracy in the country.

There are several types of government that exist in the world today. Some of these are capitalist, monarchist, communist and communist. For the purposes of this discussion, we will be focusing on the political parties that are not based on any particular type of government. These parties are commonly referred to as democratic governments. The democratic government may hold periodic elections in which citizens choose representatives to serve for them in various branches of government such as the presidency, prime minister, cabinets and lower house of Congress. During these elections, many countries have established proportional representation voting systems which require a certain percentage of votes for a win.

Many nations in the world have developed a hybrid form of government which combines aspects of the former two systems. For instance, some nation develop both a capitalist and a constitutional government. Often times the two branches of government work hand in hand with one another. They share power by picking who will head their respective legislative branch and judicial branch. A hybrid system is also similar to the United States government in that it exists under both an executive branch and a legislative branch. Many people are of the belief that such hybrid systems are preferable to purely aristocratic based governments.

In modern times, the concept of a “tyrant” has been used. An individual, organization or country that has no centralized control over the rules or freedoms in society is considered to be a tyrant. In ancient times, a person with absolute power can be considered to be a tyrant by many nations. Examples of tyrants in ancient times include Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, and King Herod. Examples in modern times of a group who would be considered to be a tyrannical government are the People’s Republic of China, North Korea and the Soviet Union.

There are a number of individuals who rule over entire nations and regions using their military or police power. While such individuals may have absolute power in their hands, they do not have one person controlling all of the other people through the voting process as in a democracy. This type of government was common during the rule of the Roman Empire. An example of such a government is the United States of America. Although a one-person state like the Roman Empire can be ruled by an absolute ruler, modern day America has chosen to have a representative government form that represents every single person on the polity.