Government

government.
1. The structure of principles and rules determining how a state or organization is regulated.
2. The sovereign power in a nation or state.
3. An organization through which a body of people exercises political authority; the machinery by which sovereign power is expressed ● In this sense the term refers collectively to the political organs of a country regardless of their function or level, and regardless of the subject matter they deal with.
4. The executive branch of the U.S. government.
5. The prosecutors in a given criminal case.
6. An academic course devoted to the study of government; political science.

(Black's Law Dictionary 8th ed., © 2004 West Publishing)