Government is the system of people in charge of an organized community or state. It includes the group of people who make laws, manage public affairs and enforce policies. Government can take many forms, but the most common ones are democracy, totalitarian regimes, and authoritarian regimes (which sit between these two categories).

In democratic governments, citizens have some power to choose their leaders. This process is called voting. In some countries, such as the United States, people can vote for a person to run for president or other office. Some other countries have a parliamentary system, where citizens have limited power to choose their leaders. Some have a monarchy, where one person holds the power of the nation.

When adults make rules for their community or state, the government makes sure those rules are followed and judges any problems that may come up. In the United States, our government has three branches: The Legislative Branch, The Executive Branch and the Judicial Branch. Each of these branches has a different job, but all work together to make sure the laws made and how they are enforced are fair and equal for every citizen.

The first part of our government is the Legislative Branch, which makes laws. This branch is often called Congress. A bill to create a new law starts out as something called a proposal, which a member of the House or Senate introduces. This proposal is then assigned to a committee, which will research it and discuss it with other members of the chamber or senators. The committee will also make changes to the bill and decide if it should be put before the whole chamber for a vote. If more than half of the members of the House or Senate approve the bill, it becomes a law. If the President objects to a bill, it can still become a law if both chambers of Congress pass the same version of the bill with a two-thirds majority.

The second part of our government is the Executive Branch, which carries out the laws that are passed by Congress. The President and other cabinet members are the heads of the Executive Branch. The third branch of our government is the Judicial Branch, which makes sure the laws and how they are enforced agree with what is written in the Constitution.

Government has many important jobs, including ensuring that all citizens have access to food and water, shelter and education, and keeping people safe. It also protects citizens’ rights, such as freedom of speech and religion. It may tax citizens to raise money to pay for these things. It may even regulate access to natural resources like wildlife and public lands, because these resources are in limited supply. If too many people use them, there won’t be enough for everyone. So, the government helps to protect them by setting limits on how much of a resource people can use and by charging fees for those who want to use it more than others.