government+description

Several Archetypal tensions are brought to the fore by the complex that is "government".

When municipal, state, or federal governments collect taxes, or fine citizens, or create structures that direct the flow of power/money more subtly, are they serving the public good or some narrower goal, perhaps associated with their own interests?

Is the purpose of government to secure the capacity of the powerful to act as they see fit, thereby creating a robust and normative system through the ranks of which others may attempt to rise? Does government exist to protect the rights of the less powerful from the strong arms of the more powerful? Is this a resolvable question, or a natural tension that inhabits all attempts to organize groups of people?