Government

A government is the body that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or other organization or group. more...

In its broadest sense, "to govern" means to administer or supervise, whether over a state, a set group of people, or a collection of assets.

The word government is derived from the Greek Κυβερνήτης (kubernites), which means "steersman", "governor", "pilot" or "rudder".

Typically, government refers to civil administration. In many countries (particularly those having parliamentary systems), the Government refers to the executive branch of government or a specifically named executive, i.e. the Blair Government (compare to the administration as in the Clinton administration in U.S. usage). The Welsh Assembly Government is the name of the executive branch of Wales, and Scottish Government is the unofficial term to describe the Scottish Executive. In countries using the Westminster system, the party in government will also usually control the legislature.

Attributes of governments

If the state is to exist, the dominated must obey the authority claimed by the powers that be....there are three inner justifications, hence basic legitimations of domination. ---Max Weber--Politics as a Vocation: 1918

Effective governments possess two attributes, authority and legitimacy.

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