GOVERNMENT AND ITS MEANING IN NIGERIA AND WITHIN AFRICANS

GOVERNMENT AND ITS MEANING A government is the system by which a state or community is controlled.[1] In the Commonwealth of Nations, the word government is also used more narrowly to refer to the collective group of people that exercises executive authority in a state.[2][3][4] This usage is analogous to what is called an "administration" in American English. Furthermore, especially in American English, the concepts of the state and the government may be used synonymously to refer to the person or group of people exercising authority over a politically organized territory.[5][6] Finally, government is also sometimes used in English as a synonym for governance. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators, and arbitrators. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political systems and institutions that make up the organisation of a specific government. Government of any kind currently affects every human activity in many important ways. For this reason, political scientists generally argue that government should not be studied by itself; but should be studied along with anthropology, economics, environmentalism, history, philosophy, science, and sociology. What do you think of when you hear the word 'government'? Does the Capitol building in Washington D.C. come to mind? Maybe you get a mental picture of the president or Congress. You might even think about words like 'power' or 'control' or 'rules' or 'politics.' But can you define 'government'? Take a moment and try. It's hard, isn't it? Government is so ingrained in our culture and so much a part of our everyday lives that most of us, when asked, can't offer a very good definition of the actual word. Defining government, however, is the starting point for any study of the United States governmental system. Dictionaries and scholars define government in different ways. Let's build a word map to help us sort out these definitions. We'll begin by writing the word 'government' and circling it. Then we'll draw lines connecting each definition to our central term. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers three definitions of government: 1. 'the group of people who control and make decisions for a country, state, etc.' 2. 'a particular system used for controlling a country, state, etc.' 3. 'the process or manner of controlling a country, state, etc.' Notice here that government can be defined by the people involved, the system in place, or the process in use. Dr. Harold Damerow, a professor of government and history, gets a bit more specific with his definition. He says that government is 'responsible primarily for making public policy for an entire society.' He also mentions that government is 'the steering mechanism for a given society.' It forms the policies that keep a particular society heading in the right direction. Finally, Black's Law Dictionary mentions that the institutions of the government 'regulate the relationships among members of a society and between the society and outsiders' and that they 'have the authority to make decisions for the society' to meet goals and maintain order. While all of these definitions help us grasp the meaning of the word 'government,' they provide a lot to remember, so let's summarize. Government, whether we refer to the system or institutions in operation, the group of people in charge, or the process in use, is the authority that sets rules for a society, helps its members relate to one another and to others, and keeps it running smoothly, securely, and peacefully. Purpose of U.S. Government Now we'll turn our attention to the specific functions of the United States government, which are found in the Constitution's preamble. Here they are: 1. 'To form a more perfect Union' 2. 'To establish Justice' 3. 'To insure domestic Tranquility' 4. 'To provide for the common defense' 5. 'To promote the general Welfare' 6. 'To secure the Blessings of Liberty' Role of Government Looking at the above functions, you might be wondering what they mean for you and for other citizens on a daily basis. Let's examine a few of the governmental responsibilities that fall under each Constitutional function. 1. 'To form a more perfect Union' - The government keeps the country united and helps to form a sense of community, patriotism, and national pride. It does this in part by maintaining national monuments and hosting celebrations on Independence Day and other national holidays. 2. 'To establish Justice' - Justice means making sure that all people receive what is due to them. To maintain justice, the government helps distribute resources through social programs that assist those in need. For instance, families who are struggling to make ends meet can apply for government aid, and senior citizens often receive social security and Medicare benefits. 3. 'To insure domestic Tranquility' - The government makes laws to discourage wrongdoing and keep society safe. It also enforces these laws, maintains order, resolves disputes, and punishes those who break the law, thereby allowing citizens to peacefully pursue their daily lives and hold onto their money and private property. Classifying government In political science, it has long been a goal to create a typology or taxonomy of polities, as typologies of political systems are not obvious. It is especially important in the political science fields of comparative politics and international relations. On the surface, identifying a form of government appears to be simple, as all governments have an official form. The United States is a Constitutional republic, while the former Soviet Union was a socialist republic. However self-identification is not objective, and as Kopstein and Lichbach argue, defining regimes can be tricky.[8] For example, elections are a defining characteristic of a democracy,[citation needed] but in practice elections in the former Soviet Union were not "free and fair" and took place in a one-party state. Thus in many practical classifications it would not be considered democratic. Identifying a form of government is also difficult because a large number of political systems originate as socio-economic movements and are then carried into governments by specific parties naming themselves after those movements; all with competing political-ideologies. Experience with those movements in power, and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of government, can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves. Other complications include general non-consensus or deliberate "distortion or bias" of reasonable technical definitions to political ideologies and associated forms of governing, due to the nature of politics in the modern era. For example: The meaning of "conservatism" in the United States has little in common with the way the word's definition is used elsewhere. As Ribuffo (2011) notes, "what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism".[9] Since the 1950s conservatism in the United States has been chiefly associated with the Republican Party. However, during the era of segregation many Southern Democrats were conservatives, and they played a key role in the Conservative Coalition that controlled Congress from 1937 to 1963. Every country in the world is ruled by a system of governance that combines at least 2 (or more) of the following attributes (for example, the United States is not a true capitalist society, since the government actually provides social services for its citizens). Additionally, one person's opinion of the type of government may differ from another's (for example, some may argue that the United States is a plutocracy rather than a democracy since they may believe it is ruled by the wealthy). There are always shades of gray in any government. Even the most liberal democracies limit rival political activity to one extent or another, and even the most tyrannical dictatorships must organise a broad base of support, so it is very difficult "pigeonholing" every government into narrow categories.