Other attributes
Government organizations are organizations formed under specific governmental or constitutional charters and legislative action to achieve specific governmental purposes. These could include the management of resources, financial oversight of industries, and national security issues. These agencies are generally helmed by a high-level political actor, sometimes referred to as a director or minister, and can be selected by presidential or party appointment rather than a public vote. These organizations are staffed by government employees and are funded directly by the government.
Government organizations can be permanent or semi-permanent within a national or local (state, provincial, district) government. They tend to be responsible for oversight or administration of a specific sector, field, or area of study, such as the Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, and Department of Transportation. While they are often meant to be non-political, the direction and intention of the work of any government organization can change depending on the governing political party and their staffing or interpretation of the laws and statutes which govern the government organization.
These organizations, depending on the region, tend to be involved in practices that require close oversight from specialized experts. Other organizations have their operations backed explicitly by the financial controllers of the government—such as the U.S. Treasury or the Treasury Board of Canada—while others are only implicitly guaranteed by the government.
Further, especially in the United States, government agencies have issued government securities, such as stocks and bonds. These stocks and bonds have been popular with investors, as they are backed by the government organization and the larger government of which that organization is a part and allows the government organization to run extra-governmental funds. As with other bonds, government organization bonds offer regular interest payments, and at maturity, the full value of the bond is repaid to the holder.
Government agencies considered foreign are those that are founded by one or more than one government to accomplish a public purpose. These can include government universities, hospitals, or multinational agencies. For example, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the European Space Research Organization, and the Criminal Police Organization are all examples of international organizations.
