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government

Definition of Government

(noun) An organization with the authority and power to make and enforce laws and enact policy to control an area of land or a group of people.

Types of Government

Government Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: gov·ern·ment

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /gUH-vuhr-muhnt/
  • British English – /gUH-vuhn-muhnt/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈɡəvər(n)mənt/
  • British English – /ˈɡʌvəm(ə)nt/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: governments
  • A government (verb) governs (adverb) governmentally through (adjective) governmental mechanisms.

Related Quotations

Additional Information

Related Terms


References

Colignon, Richard A. 1969. “The Sociology of Organization.” Pp. 179–88 in 21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook, edited by C. D. Bryant, and D. L. Peck. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2008. Sociology: The Core. 8th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

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Kendall, Diana. 2006. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Roskin, Michael G., Robert L. Cord, James A. Medeiros, and Walter S. Jones. 2017. Political Science: An Introduction. 14 ed. Boston: Pearson.

Works Consulted

Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan Turner. 2006. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 5th ed. London: Penguin.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Delaney, Tim, and Tim Madigan. 2015. The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Farlex. (N.d.) TheFreeDictionary.com: Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus. Farlex. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/).

Ferrante, Joan. 2011a. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011b. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Marsh, Ian, and Mike Keating, eds. 2006. Sociology: Making Sense of Society. 3rd ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.

Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Government

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “government.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/government/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

government. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/government/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “government.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/government/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“government.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/government/>.