A government is the structure by which people organize themselves and allocate authority to accomplish collective goals for their nation, including economic prosperity, secure national borders and the safety and well-being of citizens. Governments worldwide use a variety of policies and methods to accomplish these objectives. They are often divided into different institutions or branches that each have specific powers, functions, duties and responsibilities. In the United States, those different institutions are the executive branch (President and his staff), the legislative branch (Senate and House of Representatives) and the judicial branch (Court system, including the Supreme Court). These different institutions work together to create laws and implement them.

One of the most important roles government has is to regulate access to “common goods” like natural resources, public lands and wildlife. These resources are in limited supply, and if everyone uses them freely, there may not be enough left for others. In this way, governments protect the availability of these resources for future generations.

Other important things that governments do include regulating access to private property, providing health care and education for citizens, and maintaining infrastructure such as roads and bridges. They also often use taxes to raise money for these purposes. Local, state and federal governments draft budgets to determine how the revenue they receive will be spent. On the local level, this includes things such as funding for city schools, police and fire departments, parks and other public amenities. On the state and national levels, this can include funding for state colleges and universities, maintenance of roads and bridges, and wildlife management.

Another function of government is to provide a framework for citizens’ interactions with each other. This is largely determined by the type of political system. For example, a country that adheres to democratic ideals will have elections for representatives to make decisions on behalf of the citizens, and it will also generally guarantee freedom of speech and the press. In contrast, countries that follow autocratic ideals will not have those same protections.

While many people around the world believe that there are benefits to having a government, they differ in opinions about what form it should take and which issues it should address. In general, however, clear majorities of Americans believe that the government should have a major role in addressing problems such as terrorism and crime, helping people out of poverty and protecting the environment.