Government Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Definitions and etymology== A government is the [[system]] to [[governance|govern]] a [[state (polity)|state]] or community. The ''[[Columbia Encyclopedia]]'' defines government as "a system of social control under which the right to make laws, and the right to enforce them, is vested in a particular group in society".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Columbia Encyclopedia |title-link=Columbia Encyclopedia |date=2000 |publisher=Columbia University Press |edition=6th}}{{full citation needed|date=July 2022}}<!--missing the specific entry/pages and author--></ref> While all types of organizations have [[governance]], the word ''government'' is often used more specifically to refer to the approximately 200 [[List of sovereign states|independent national governments]] on Earth, as well as their subsidiary organizations, such as [[State government|state and provincial governments]] as well as [[local government]]s.{{sfn|Smelser|Baltes|2001|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}} The word ''government'' derives from the Greek verb {{lang|grc|κυβερνάω}} [{{transliteration|grc|kubernáo}}] meaning ''to steer'' with a [[Gubernaculum (classical)|gubernaculum]] (rudder), the metaphorical sense being attested in the literature of [[classical antiquity]], including [[Plato]]'s [[Ship of State]].{{sfn|Brock|2013|p=53–62}} In [[British English]], "government" sometimes refers to what's also known as a "[[Ministry (collective executive)|ministry]]" or an "[[administration (government)|administration]]", i.e., the policies and government officials of a particular executive or governing [[Coalition government|coalition]]. Finally, ''government'' is also sometimes used in English as a [[synonym]] for rule or governance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Government English Definition and Meaning |url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/government |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717193211/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/government |archive-date=17 July 2022 |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=Lexico |language=en}}</ref> In other languages, [[cognate]]s may have a narrower scope, such as the [[government of Portugal]], which is actually more similar to the concept of [[Administration (government)|"administration"]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page