ABSTRACT
Government, the institution, may be defined as the pattern of statuses and roles that a society develops to fulfill the need for order within and the need for defense against threats from without. It includes a system of norms, values, laws, and general patterns of behavior that legitimize the acquisition and exercise of power. The most important function of government is to implement political control. Communism, an economic and political system whose goals are total government control of the economy and total income redistribution with the ultimate aim of a classless society, is based on one of the most misunderstood and feared ideologies. A socialist economy within a democratic political system is called democratic socialism. Democratic socialism accepts and supports the democratic ideology, both in theory and in practice. Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries are the most prominent examples of democratic socialism, although they have departed in degrees from a socialistic ideology in the last few decades.
