What are the Five Purposes of Government

"The purpose of government is to rein in the rights of the people." - Bill Clinton (Former US President)

Governments of all the countries, including the United States of America, have five purposes. They are defense, national identity, representation, social welfare and infrastructure. A government has basically three branches - the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial that help in the functioning of a government. Take a look at the five main purposes of a government.

Defense: One of the five purposes of government is to defend the borders of the nation against foreign invasions. Hence, all governments have some form of defense system that includes the army, navy and air force. Maintaining internal order is also one of the defense purposes of the government. This is taken care of by the police force.

National Identity: Each and every nation is unique in its own way. Each nation has its own tradition and culture. It is said for a nation to exist, it must have an identity. For instance, no two flags of any two nations are alike nor are the anthems and pledges. Hence, one of the functions of a government is to protect the identity of its nation.

Representation: A government represents the interest of the nation. To protect and safeguard the interest of the nation, the government enters into bilateral trade agreements, negotiation treaties and so on, with the governments of other nations.

Infrastructure: One of the main purposes of the government is to provide good infrastructure such as roads, bridges, drinking water, electricity and communication networks.

Social Welfare: Last but not the least, introducing social welfare programs to protect the interest of the minorities and also, to provide education and health care to the underprivileged class of the economy is one of the purposes of the government.

I believe this abstract will be helpful in giving an insight into the basic purposes of a government.