Government “wants” to bring about certain outcomes: collect taxes, regulate dangerous industries, establish a code of law, provide universal public schooling. But how does the “will of government” come to be?
This question seems simple, but it isn’t. There is first the large distinction between democracies and authoritarian regimes. Legislation within a democracy has one set of logics; rule-setting within an authoritarian regime has a very different logic. Second, there is the point that a fair amount of the will of government is not the direct result of legislation, but is rather established through ministries or departments which write rules for the domain they oversee (the US Department of Education and university sexual harassment processes, for example). This rule-writing activity is subject to a legal framework and to judicial oversight; but it is not directly subject to legislative debate and voting.
This is an ontological question about the nature of government, power, and collective decision-making. Even dictators need to negotiate within their governments because some subordinates have sufficient power or position to interfere with the dictator’s will (link). Legislative decision-making within a democratic assembly has its own logic — log rolling, agenda setting, internal rules, the influence of powerful outsiders, and public opinion. And elected chief executives (presidents, prime ministers) are themselves subject to constraints in their ability to create and impose a single “will” upon the state. In the United States there are constitutional and judicial limits on the will of the president, and even the most determined executive may be frustrated in his ability to “decide” an issue or policy.
The question here is a somewhat limited one: how do the ministries of government arrive at decisions? Do the public utterances of ministries and departments constitute authoritative representations of the will of the ministry, or are there hidden decisions that are more important? What is the role of subordinate fact gathering, opinion writing, and advocacy in the ultimate decision taken by the ministry?
A Philosophy of Government 