Although political philosophers focus on the theory of government or ideology, there is also the very practical business of how any form of government operates in practice – the systems, structures and institutions through which it conducts its business. The processes, institutions and behaviour of a government are sometimes known as ‘governance’ to distinguish it from the governing body itself.
The most obvious institutions are housed in the seats of government, often in imposing buildings, such as royal palaces or parliament buildings. But other government departments occupy offices, town halls and courts of law. These visible signs of systems and structures allow a government to run a state by administering its economic, social and foreign policies, and enforcing its laws. And while the extent of these bureaucratic systems differs from state to state, the basic structures and institutions are similar no matter what form of government, and no matter what political ideology it represents.
Some institutions of government evolve from practical necessity, rather than from political theory. This is also true of government itself. For most of history, ‘government’ meant the rule of a single monarch or ruling aristocracy – not much different from a patriarchal tribal leader. ‘Monarchy’ literally means ‘rule by one individual’ but has developed into the idea of a ruling king or queen. Similarly, ‘tyrant’ and ‘dictator’ were originally neutral descriptions of single leaders, but have taken on a negative, pejorative meaning. The modern connotation of these terms reflects a changing perception of the desirability of an absolute ruler, and only a handful of absolute monarchies exist today in Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, the UAE and Vatican City. However, even democracies show a need for a single figurehead. Several countries retain a royal family in a system of constitutional monarchy, where the monarch’s role is largely ceremonial and symbolic. And even in republics, the idea of a single leader lingers in the election of a president or head of state.
While the idea of monarchy or a single leader evolved from ancient traditions, the advent of political philosophy challenged the status quo. Thinkers began to examine other alternatives to hereditary patriarchy. Might it be better, for instance, to appoint leaders on merit, not by accident of birth?
From this developed the idea of making conscious decisions about the form of government a society should have and the participation of the people in making that choice. In Ancient Greece and then in Rome, the old tyrants were deposed and replaced with republics, and medieval Europe saw a very gradual decline in the power of the monarchies in favour of greater democracy. Some form of democracy, with the people participating to some degree in the way in which they are governed, today forms part of almost all modern mainstream political ideologies, and so is arguably as much an institution as an ideology – or at least is the raison d’être of institutions, such as parliaments and congresses.
The word ‘bureaucracy’ has unfortunately earned a negative connotation, that of red tape and unnecessary paperwork, when, in fact, it is a useful term to describe the systems and institutions that carry out the work of government. It is by no means a modern invention, either – as early as the 6th century BCE, Confucius proposed ways in which the business of the Chinese empire could be administered by a system of advisors to the emperor and a class of public servants.
Today, governments rely on a publicly funded civil service, composed of various government offices and departments, to provide an administrative system to manage the everyday business of the government, such as collecting taxes, and supplying and maintaining public goods and services. Civil servants are unelected and often specially trained for their work. In answer to the question ‘who runs the country?’, the answer is perhaps not obvious: while a government decides how it is run, it is the bureaucracy that actually manages it.
Non-governmental organizations
Not everything in a society is run by the government or its various bureaucratic departments. Certain elements are managed by independent organizations, which can range from small community groups to large international organizations. Some seek to influence government policy on specific issues, while others aim to complement public services, or provide them where governments do not. These non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are often charitable or non-profit-making organizations with altruistic aims and objectives. NGOs are less accountable than a similar governmental service, however, and the line between them and commercial organizations is not always clear. There are also organizations that are publicly funded to carry out some of the work of government departments, but not controlled directly by central government. Sometimes known as quasi-non-governmental organizations, or ‘quangos’, these include organizations constituted to do specific tasks, such as running prisons or overseeing the provision of public services.
Headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington D.C.
In order to fund goods and services provided by the state, the people contribute financially through taxation. It is one of the major responsibilities of a government to determine the income and expenditure of the ‘public purse’, by deciding how much this contribution should be, how it should be raised and how it should be spent, and overseeing the management of its economic policy by the finance department or treasury.
Taxation can take several different forms, either as direct taxes on income or wealth, or as indirect tax on transactions, such as sales tax or value-added tax, and excise duty on goods. A government’s economic policy, the way it balances its books between tax and public spending, is very much a reflection of its political ideology. Governments to the right of centre tend to minimize public spending, and so tax less and more indirectly than left-of-centre governments, to encourage the prosperity of businesses; left-leaning governments tend to have higher direct taxes to fund larger public expenditure.
Taxation was originally introduced to fund armed forces, at a time when perhaps the only responsibility of a monarch was the defence of the realm, requiring finance from a public treasury. Nowadays, however, a large proportion of public spending is to provide public goods and services, including transport and the utilities (although some of these, such as street lighting and rubbish collection, may be done at a local level), and social services, protecting the welfare of the people.
This social provision includes such things as healthcare, unemployment and sickness benefits, pensions and education, and the level to which it is funded from the public purse varies from one government to another. Those to the left of centre believe that welfare is a collective responsibility, to be wholly or partly funded by the state, with generous pensions and benefits as well as free or subsidized healthcare. More right-wing ideologies, however, advocate greater personal responsibility, through private insurance and pension schemes.
Constitutions and bills of rights
For a government to operate according to the principles of democracy, there must be a framework laid down by law, detailing the extent of its powers and how these are granted by the people. The idea of a written constitution was pioneered by the founders of the United States of America, and similar documents have accompanied the establishment of almost all democratic republics since the 18th century.
Among other things, a constitution describes the structure of government, the process by which it is elected, its period of office and the limits of its legislative power. In addition, it may describe the rights of citizens, or these may be additions or amendments to the constitution, or laid out in a separate bill of rights. There are even some democracies, notably Britain and Australia, that have no formal written constitution, but instead a combination of laws passed by parliament and legal precedents – judges’ decisions – which together determine the way that government is constituted.
In power, a government puts its policies into practice through a system of legislation, making laws concerning taxation and expenditure, but also laws protecting the property, rights and freedoms of citizens. Many of these may already be laid down in a constitution or bill of rights, but through additional laws – and repealing or amendment of existing ones – a government can shape society to reflect its own philosophy.
Broadly speaking, governments can take either an authoritarian or a libertarian approach to law-making, prescribing codes of conduct or allowing a choice of lifestyle. This is most apparent in what is considered to be criminal behaviour – the things that are perceived as harmful to people’s property, safety or moral welfare – and how people breaking these laws are punished. But governments can also exert influence through civil laws, those concerning such things as contracts and disputes, and the granting or removing of civil liberties.
A number of institutions have been established to ensure that the laws of the land are observed, and that justice is done. These include a system of courts, a police force, and prison and probation services. Unlike other public institutions, however, they are generally independent and, though financed by the state, not directly controlled by the government. In this way, through a separation of powers (see here), the government is not above the law but subject to it, and the judiciary can act as a neutral arbiter.
Nevertheless, governments have considerable influence through the laws they make, and in particular the regulation of the legal system and the powers granted to the police. This varies according to the government’s attitude to matters of public order. Policy can also determine recommendations for sentencing, such as the setting of fines, terms of imprisonment and even the imposition of capital punishment, as well as the balance between rehabilitation and punishment.
It is often argued that the first duty of a government is the protection of the state and its people. But defence against outside aggression is only one aspect of a government’s relationships with other states. In addition to a department of defence, a government typically also has a department of foreign affairs that deals with matters of international trade, the movement of goods and labour, and economic, strategic and cultural links between countries.
This is complemented by a network of embassies and other outposts of the department of foreign affairs, based in other countries. Diplomatic staff are the frontline of communication with the governments of other countries. Foreign policy, especially the forging of military or economic alliances, is negotiated with the governments of other countries, and discussions between their respective ministers of foreign affairs or defence, or even the heads of state, either individually or at summit conferences (see here).
Armed forces and intelligence services
The armed forces form the most powerful, if not the most influential, of state institutions. Although publicly funded and under the control of the government through its department of defence, members of the forces often pledge their loyalty to their country or its head of state. And while their role is generally defined as defensive, they can also be deployed as an invading force by governments with expansionist ambitions or as the enforcers of an oppressive regime. Under more benign regimes, however, they often act simply as a deterrent force and also play a part in international relations, offering military assistance to allies, or contribute men and resources to international groups such as United Nations peace-keeping forces. In times of crisis, military forces are sometimes deployed to support the emergency services or, more controversially, to maintain public order. Complementing the armed forces are the intelligence services, whose role is primarily defensive, but increasingly with the rise of terrorism is directed at surveillance in the interests of national security.
All but the smallest of nations have some system of local or regional government. These councils or regional authorities deal primarily with issues of purely local concern, such as responsibility for roads, street lighting, refuse collection and local amenities in general, or the local administration of services such as healthcare, education, police and fire services. Local authorities may be given some power to raise local taxes to fund these activities, or allocated a budget by central government, and their structure is often similar to central government in consisting of elected representatives and an unelected local bureaucracy.
A state may be divided into administrative districts in any of a number of ways: one tier of government may consist of regions such as counties, provinces or departments, and this may be subdivided to form another tier of government consisting of smaller rural and urban areas such as cities and towns, and even down to the level of individual villages and parishes.
The Hôtel de Ville in Paris houses the city’s local administration.
Decentralization and devolution
The amount of power and responsibility given to local and regional government varies enormously from country to country. More libertarian political parties tend to advocate a minimal central government, and leaving local governments to manage their own affairs, but in practice often resist this decentralization once in power. Nevertheless, powers such as local administration, the raising of taxes and making laws are often granted to local authorities and, especially where there is a cultural or ethnic division of populations, a more full-blown devolution of power to regional parliaments or assemblies.
The power devolved to these local governments may not be a permanent arrangement, but if it is and offers real autonomy, it is akin to a federal state (see here). The United Kingdom, for example, is a unitary state that has devolved certain powers to regional parliaments, while the Kingdom of Belgium, with several distinct languages and communities, describes itself as a ‘federal state composed of Communities and Regions’.
Some nations are formed of a federation of autonomous states. These have a central, federal government, which has powers to decide policy and make laws on national and international issues, and a number of regional governments at the state level that determine domestic policies and laws. One of the oldest federal states is Switzerland, which consists of 26 cantons covering 4 distinct cultural and linguistic regions, united as a confederation with a federal parliament. Other federal republics tend to be much larger countries with diverse regional populations, such as the United States, or the Russian Federation, which formed after the collapse of the USSR. Some politicians in Europe have pressed for increased federalism of the European Union giving stronger powers to a central government while retaining the autonomy of the separate member states. But many, while recognizing the benefits of intergovernmental cooperation for trade, have resisted the idea of increasing the power of supranational institutions fearing a loss of sovereignty and national identity.
Throughout the 20th century – especially in the periods following the two world wars – attempts were made to improve international relations by establishing international organizations that transcended national boundaries. Previously, international cooperation had relied on old imperial networks, or on alliances between countries for specific military or trade purposes. In the wake of the First World War, the League of Nations was set up with the aims of promoting peace and security, and at its peak had 58 member states. It was replaced after the Second World War by the United Nations, an intergovernmental organization with agencies including the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO). Other important supranational organizations include the International Criminal Court, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organization (see here).
