Government  

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 +{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
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 +"To be [[government|GOVERNED]] is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so [[To be governed is ... |[...]]]. --Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
 +<hr>
 +"In his 1937 book ''[[A History of Political Theory]]'', [[George Sabine]] collected the views of many political theorists on [[consent of the governed]]. He notes the idea mentioned in 1433 by [[Nicholas of Cusa]] in ''[[De Concordantia Catholica]]''. In 1579 an influential [[Huguenot]] tract ''[[Vindiciae contra tyrannos]]'' was published which Sabine paraphrases: "The people lay down the conditions which the king is bound to fulfill. Hence they are bound to obedience only conditionally, namely, upon receiving the protection of just and lawful government…the power of the ruler is delegated by the people and continues only with their [[consent]]."" --Sholem Stein
 +|}
 +[[Image:Eugène Delacroix - La liberté guidant le peuple.jpg|thumb|200px|This page '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is part of the [[politics]] series.<br><small>Illustration:''[[Liberty Leading the People]]'' (1831, detail) by [[Eugène Delacroix]].</small>]]
 +[[Image:God.jpg|thumb|right|200px|
 +[[Sholem Stein]] says ''[[to be governed is ...]]''
 +<br>
 +<small>
 +Image: detail of [[Sistine Chapel]] fresco ''[[Creation of the Sun and Moon]]'' by [[Michelangelo]] </small>]]
 +[[Image:Niccolò Machiavelli.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Niccolò Machiavelli]] (Detail of [[1500]] portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by [[Santi di Tito]])]]
{{Template}} {{Template}}
 +A '''government''' is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a [[State (polity)|state]]. It can also describe the leadership of a supranational organization, such as the [[United Nations]] or the [[EU]], or a political region, or local units, such as a county, city, or township.
 +
 +"Government" generally refers to the organizational structure that makes laws, sets policy, and runs the day-to-day affairs of some political unit, region, or community. As such, it generally is ''not'' used to refer to organizations that are considered to be privately owned or privately run, such as e.g. a business, a corporation or company, private organization, or any private entity.
 +
 +In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of [[legislature]], [[Executive (government)|executive]], and [[judiciary]]. Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a mechanism for determining [[policy]]. Each government has a kind of [[constitution]], a statement of its governing principles and philosophy. Typically the philosophy chosen is some balance between the principle of individual [[freedom]] and the idea of absolute state authority ([[tyranny]]).
 +
 +While all types of organizations have governance, the term ''government'' is often used more specifically, to refer to the approximately 200 [[List of sovereign states|independent national governments]] and subsidiary organizations globally.
 +
 +Historically prevalent forms of government include [[monarchy]], [[aristocracy]], [[timocracy]], [[oligarchy]], [[democracy]], [[theocracy]] and [[Tyrant|tyranny]]. The main aspect of any philosophy of government is how political power is obtained, with the two main forms being [[election|electoral contest]] and [[hereditary succession]].
 +
-# The body with the power to make and/or [[enforce]] [[law]]s for a country, land area, people, or organization. 
-# A group of people who hold a [[monopoly]] on the [[legitimate]] use of [[force]] in a given [[territory]]. 
-# The [[state]] and its [[administration]] viewed as the ruling [[political]] power. 
-# The [[management]] or control of a system. 
-# The [[tenure]] of a [[chief]] of [[state]]. 
==See also== ==See also==
-* [[Anarchism]] +* [[List of forms of government]]
-* [[To be governed is ...]] +* [[Central government]]
-* [[Form of government]]+* [[Civics]]
 +* [[Comparative government]]
 +* [[Constitutional economics]]
 +* [[Deep state]]
 +* [[Digital democracy]]
 +* [[E-Government]]
 +* [[Government effectiveness index]]
 +* [[Political history of the world|History of politics]]
 +* [[Legal rights]]
 +* [[List of countries by system of government]]
 +* [[List of European Union member states by political system]]
 +* [[Ministry (collective executive)|Ministry]]
 +* [[Political economy]]
 +* [[Political history]]
* [[Politics]] * [[Politics]]
- +* [[Prime ministerial government]]
-Levels of civil government:+* [[State (polity)]]
 +* [[Voting system]]
* [[World government]] * [[World government]]
-* [[Supranational union]]+ 
-* [[Sovereign state]]+===Principles===
-* [[Province]]+Certain major characteristics are defining of certain types; others are historically associated with certain types of government.
-* [[County]]+* [[Rule according to higher law]] (unwritten ethical principles) vs. written [[constitutionalism]]
-* [[Regional government]]+* [[Separation of church and state]] or [[free church]] vs. [[state religion]]
-* [[Municipality]]+* [[Civilian control of the military]] vs. [[stratocracy]]
-* [[Village]] or [[neighborhood]]+* [[Totalitarianism]] or [[authoritarianism]] vs. [[libertarianism]]
 +* [[Majority rule]] or [[parliamentary sovereignty]] vs. [[constitution]] or [[bill of rights]] with [[separation of powers]] and [[supermajority]] rules to prevent [[tyranny of the majority]] and protect [[minority rights]]
 +* [[Androcracy]] ([[patriarchy]]) or [[gynarchy]] ([[matriarchy]]) vs. [[Women in government#Quotas|gender quotas]], [[gender equality]] provision, or silence on the matter
 + 
 +===Autonomy===
 +This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of [[sovereignty]], and the [[Autonomous entity|autonomy]] of regions within the state.
 + 
 +* Sovereignty located exclusively at the centre of political jurisdiction.
 +** [[Empire]]
 +** [[Unitary state]]
 +* Sovereignty located at the centre and in peripheral areas.
 +** [[Hegemony]]
 +** [[Federation]] and [[federal republic]]
 +** [[Confederation]]
 +** [[Federal monarchy]]
 +* Diverging degrees of sovereignty.
 +** [[Political alliance|Alliance]]
 +** [[Asymmetrical federalism]]
 +** [[Federacy]]
 +** [[Associated state]]
 +** [[Corpus separatum (disambiguation)|Corpus separatum]]
 +** [[Colony]]
 +** [[Crown colony]]
 +** [[Chartered company]]
 +** [[Dependent territory]]
 +** [[Occupied territory]]
 +** [[Occupied zone]]
 +** [[League of Nations mandate|Mandate]]
 +** [[Exclusive mandate]]
 +** [[Military Frontier]]
 +** [[Neutral zone (territorial entity)|Neutral zone]]
 +** [[Colonial dependency]]
 +** [[Protectorate]]
 +** [[Vassal state]]
 +** [[Satellite state]]
 +** [[Puppet state]]
 +** [[Thalassocracy]]
 +** Unrecognized state
 +*** [[List of states with limited recognition|States with limited recognition]]
 +*** [[Separatist movement]]
 +*** [[Government in exile]]
 +*** [[Micronation]]
 +** [[Provisional government]]
 +** [[List of territorial disputes|Territorial disputes]]
 +** [[United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories|Non-self-governing territories]]
 +** [[League of Nations]]
 +** [[Political alliance|League]]
 +** [[Commonwealth]]
 +** [[Decentralisation]] and [[devolution]] (powers redistributed from central to regional or local governments)
 + 
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

Current revision

"To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so [...]. --Pierre-Joseph Proudhon


"In his 1937 book A History of Political Theory, George Sabine collected the views of many political theorists on consent of the governed. He notes the idea mentioned in 1433 by Nicholas of Cusa in De Concordantia Catholica. In 1579 an influential Huguenot tract Vindiciae contra tyrannos was published which Sabine paraphrases: "The people lay down the conditions which the king is bound to fulfill. Hence they are bound to obedience only conditionally, namely, upon receiving the protection of just and lawful government…the power of the ruler is delegated by the people and continues only with their consent."" --Sholem Stein

This page Government is part of the politics series.Illustration:Liberty Leading the People (1831, detail) by Eugène Delacroix.
Enlarge
This page Government is part of the politics series.
Illustration:Liberty Leading the People (1831, detail) by Eugène Delacroix.
Niccolò Machiavelli (Detail of 1500 portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito)
Enlarge
Niccolò Machiavelli (Detail of 1500 portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito)

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A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. It can also describe the leadership of a supranational organization, such as the United Nations or the EU, or a political region, or local units, such as a county, city, or township.

"Government" generally refers to the organizational structure that makes laws, sets policy, and runs the day-to-day affairs of some political unit, region, or community. As such, it generally is not used to refer to organizations that are considered to be privately owned or privately run, such as e.g. a business, a corporation or company, private organization, or any private entity.

In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a mechanism for determining policy. Each government has a kind of constitution, a statement of its governing principles and philosophy. Typically the philosophy chosen is some balance between the principle of individual freedom and the idea of absolute state authority (tyranny).

While all types of organizations have governance, the term government is often used more specifically, to refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments and subsidiary organizations globally.

Historically prevalent forms of government include monarchy, aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, theocracy and tyranny. The main aspect of any philosophy of government is how political power is obtained, with the two main forms being electoral contest and hereditary succession.


See also

Principles

Certain major characteristics are defining of certain types; others are historically associated with certain types of government.

Autonomy

This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of sovereignty, and the autonomy of regions within the state.




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Government" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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