Government
| n. | 1. | The act of governing; the exercise of authority; the administration of laws; control; direction; regulation; |
| 2. | The mode of governing; the system of polity in a state; the established form of law. | |
| 3. | The right or power of governing; authority. | |
| 4. | The person or persons authorized to administer the laws; the ruling power; the administration. | |
| 5. | The body politic governed by one authority; a state; | |
| 6. | Management of the limbs or body. | |
| 7. | (Gram.) The influence of a word in regard to construction, requiring that another word should be in a particular case. |
| Noun | 1. | government - the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit; "the government reduced taxes"; "the matter was referred to higher authorities" Synonyms: authorities, regime |
| 2. | government - (government) the system or form by which a community or other political unit is governed; "tyrannical government" | |
| 3. | government - the act of governing; exercising authority; "regulations for the governing of state prisons"; "he had considerable experience of government" | |
| 4. |  government - the study of government of states and other political unitsSynonyms: political science, politics |
GOVERNMENT, natural and political law. The manner in which sovereignty is
exercised in each state.
2. There are three simple forms of government, the democratic, the
aristocratic, and monarchical. But these three simple forms may be varied to
infinity by the mixture and divisions of their different powers. Sometimes
by the word government is understood the body of men, or the individual in
the state, to whom is entrusted the executive power. It is taken in this
sense when the government is spoken of in opposition to other bodies in the
state.
3. Governments are also divided into monarchical and republican; among
the monarchical states may be classed empires, kingdoms, and others; in
these the sovereignty resides in, a single individual. There are some
monarchical states under the name of duchies, counties, and the like.
Republican states are those where the sovereignty is in several persons.
These are subdivided into aristocracies, where the power is exercised by a
few persons of the first rank in the state; and democracies, which are those
governments where the common people may exercise the highest powers. 1 Bouv.
Inst. n. 20. See Aristocracy; Democracy; Despotism; Monarchy; Theocracy.
4. It should be remembered, however, that governments, for the most
part, have not been framed on models. Their parts and their powers grew out
of occasional acts, prompted by some urgent expediency, or some private
interest, which, in the course of time, coalesced and hardened into usages.
These usages became the object of respect and the guide of conduct long
before they were embodied in written laws. This subject is philosophically
treated by Sir James McIntosh, in his History of England. See vol. 1, p. 71,
et seq.