different between government vs quango

English

Alternative forms

• (nonstandard) gub'mint, gubmint, gummint, gubbamint, guvmint, guvment, gumment, guv'ment, guv'mint, gubbermint, gubment, gub'ment, govermint, guvverment, guvvermint, guverment, guvermint

Etymology

From Middle English governement, from Old French governement (modern French gouvernement), from governer (see govern) + -ment.

Morphologically govern +? -ment

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???v?(n)m?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???v?(n)m?nt/
• Hyphenation: gov?ern?ment

Noun

government (countable and uncountable, plural governments)

1. The body with the power to make and/or enforce laws to control a country, land area, people or organization.

   British government has historically centred exclusively on London.
2. (grammar, linguistics) The relationship between a word and its dependents.
3. The state and its administration viewed as the ruling political power.
4. (uncountable) The management or control of a system.
5. The tenure of a chief of state.

Usage notes

In the United States, "government" is considered to be divided into three branches; the legislature (the House of Representatives and the Senate) which makes law, the Administration (under the President) which runs sections of government within the law, and the Courts, which adjudicate on matters of the law. This is a much wider meaning of "government" than exists in other countries where the term "government" means the ruling political force of the prime minister and his/her cabinet ministers (what Americans would call the Administration). In Britain, the administrative organs of the nation are collectively referred to as "the state". In Canada government is used in both senses and neither state nor administration are used. Applied to many countries in continental Europe (when using English), the British usage is common.

In Britain, the word is often capitalised when referring to the UK government.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• ocracy

English

Etymology

From the initial letters (the first two letters for the first word) of “quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization”. Coined in 1967 by Alan Pifer of the US-based Carnegie Foundation.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kwæ?.???/
• Rhymes: -æ????
• Hyphenation: quan?go

Noun

quango (plural quangos)

1. (Britain) An organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it.
   • 1998, Ferenc Miszlivetz; Katalin Ertsey, “Hungary: Civil Society in the Post-Socialist World”, in Alison van Rooy, editor, Civil Society and the Aid Industry: The Politics and Promise, London: Earthscan, OCLC ISBN 978-1-85383-553-7; republished as Civil Society and the Aid Industry (Earthscan Library Collection, Aid and Development; 3), London; Stirling, Va.: Earthscan, 2013, ISBN 978-1-84971-042-8, page 78:

     The strongest link to the State, however, occurs with quangos, (quasi-NGOs), and the many umbrella groups that also thrive on State support. Many of the new parties realized after their Sturm und Drang years that they still needed regular contacts with the 'civil' world and that their civilian support base had been seriously eroded.

Synonyms

• parastatal

Derived terms

• quangocracy
• quangoism

Translations