70 Examples of the Role Of Government

John Spacey, April 10, 2023

The role of government is to provide the basic systems of society such as a legal system and to deliver public services such as education. As you might expect, there are different views of this role whereby people may feel that the government should take a smaller role or expanded role in certain areas. For example, many developed nations offer universal healthcare but this is not offered in the United States where this is a political issue¹. The following are examples of the role of government.

Agriculture policy	Air and water quality
Birth and death registration	Border control
Budget management	Census administration
Civil rights protection	Commerce regulation
Competition regulation	Consumer protection
Contract enforcement	Criminal justice
Culture promotion	Currency management
Diplomacy	Disaster relief
Election administration	Emergency management
Emergency services	Energy policy
Environmental protection	Financial regulations
Fiscal policy	Fishing regulation
Food and drug regulation	Forest management
Hazardous materials regulation	Health and safety standards
Historical preservation	Humanitarian aid
Immigration control	Intellectual property protection
International relations	Investor protection
Labor market regulations	Land use management
Law and order	Law enforcement
Legal system	Monetary policy
National defense	National parks
National security	Occupational health and safety
Postal services	Product and service standards
Protection of rights and freedoms	Providing and protecting public goods such as national parks
Public broadcasting	Public debt management
Public education	Public health
Public healthcare services	Public housing
Public infrastructure	Public research funding
Public safety and security	Public space
Public utility regulation	Regulation of anti-competitive practices
Small business support	Social welfare
Trade promotion	Transportation safety
Transportation systems	Treaty negotiation
Urban planning	Voting rights protection
Waste management	Wildlife conservation

Notes

The following countries offer universal healthcare: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom².

There is a tradeoff between government services and taxation levels. In a state with generous public services, taxation may be more burdensome.

There can be a tradeoff between government regulations and freedom. However, regulations are also required to preserve freedom. For example, regulation of anti-competitive practices is required to preserve open competitive markets.

A government may regulate many aspects of life whereby some reduction in risk is given as a reason to curtail freedoms. This can be quite contentious.

The role of government is greatly expanded in a communist state whereby the government runs the entire economy.