ABSTRACT
A government, as a legally constituted body, acts on behalf of the people as a whole, committing them to various policies and negotiating on their behalf with sectional groups within the nation and with foreign nations. The government, as an intermediary of the people, is concerned with their interests, or with creating a harmonious and co-operative society. The nature of western society has been transformed during the past few hundred years, and the root cause of the change has probably been the development of science and technology in conjunction with a capitalist form of economy. Until recently, however, these developments have not affected the Afro-Asian nations, and the transmission of their beneficial effects has in any case been hindered by social organisations in which conceptions of status and privilege still take priority over those of contract and fairness.
