Organization of Government (Pols 208)

Introduction

Every organised society develops a mechanism for exercising authority over its members, and government is the institution through which this control is exercised — not arbitrarily, but through statutory and, in many cases, customary means. This note clarifies the three perspectives from which government can be understood, along with the tripartite structure of government as a state institution, using Nigerian, British, and American examples for comparison.

Legal paraphernalia 

Defining Government

Government can be understood from three perspectives:

1. Government as an act of governing

2. Government as a branch of political science

3. Government as an institution of the state

1. Government as an Act of Governing

As an act of governing, government is the body charged with regulating the wills of the people and controlling the citizenry of the state. Its mechanisms of control are backed by power, but that power is only legitimately exercised through the rule of law— the principle of the supremacy of the law of the land, under which every citizen is afforded the opportunity to pursue their socio-economic and political interests. The state's authority, once lawfully established, commands compliance whether or not it aligns with individual preferences; its principles must be enforced consistently, regardless of popular will.

Some of this regulatory authority is backed by the Constitution (statutory control), while other responsibilities are grounded not in written law but in the customs and ways of life of a community (customary/traditional control) — both are recognised sources of authority in plural legal systems like Nigeria's.

2. Government as a Branch of Political Science

As a branch of political science, government involves the scientific study of politics — including individual and collective human behaviour, state action, and political attitudes — using the tools of scientific inquiry: observation, hypothesis formulation, generalisation (through induction and deduction), conclusion, and recommendation. This approach draws on Harold Lasswell's classic framing of politics as the study of "who gets what, when, and how" — that is, how values are authoritatively allocated in society. Political scientists test hypotheses using the standard scientific convention of a null hypothesis (H₀), which assumes no significant relationship or effect, against an alternative hypothesis (H₁), which proposes that a relationship or effect does exist.

3. Government as an Institution of the State

As an institution, government carries out three fundamental functions:

1. Law formulation (legislative function)

2. Law implementation/execution (executive function)

3. Law adjudication (judicial function)

The arm of government responsible for making law is the legislature (the body itself), which produces legislation (the laws it enacts). In Nigeria, this responsibility belongs to the National Assembly, a bicameral body comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent body is Parliament, comprising the House of Lords and the House of Commons. In the United States, it is Congress, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The judicial arm in Nigeria operates as a hierarchy. The original note lists the Federal High Court, State High Court, Magistrate Courts (Grades I, II, III), and Customary Courts — these are accurate as mid-to-lower tier courts, but for completeness it's worth noting the full hierarchy is headed by the Supreme Court (the apex court) and the Court of Appeal, above the Federal and State High Courts, with Customary and Sharia Courts of Appeal sitting alongside the State High Courts, and Magistrate/Customary/Sharia courts forming the base.

Conclusion

Government, whether viewed as an act of governing, a field of scientific study, or an institution of the state, ultimately exists to organise power and channel it through legitimate means — the rule of law, scientific inquiry into political behaviour, and a structured division of labour between those who make, implement, and adjudicate law. Understanding these three perspectives together gives a fuller picture of why government takes the institutional shape it does across different political systems.