1. Providepublicgoods Public goods and services, sometimes called collective goods and services, benefite many but would not be availableto everyone if individuals had to provide them. Taxes pay for the production of public goods and services.

2. Reasons why government provides public goods and services It is more efficient. The goods and services may benefitindividuals other than the purchaser. The value of the goods or services is greater than the individual consumer could afford. It promotes economic equity

3. Legitimacy popular acceptance of a governing law or régime as an authority. Whereas “authority” denotes a specific position in an established government, the term “legitimacy” denotes a system of government — wherein “government” denotes “sphere of influence”. Political legitimacy is considered a basic condition for governing, without which, a government will suffer legislative deadlock(s) and collapse. In political systems where this is not the case, unpopular régimes survive because they are considered legitimate by a small, influential élite.

4. Types of legitimacy Numinous legitimacy In a theocracy, government legitimacy derives from the spiritual authority of a god or a goddess. Civil legitimacy The political legitimacy of a civil government derives from agreement among the autonomous constituent institutions combined for the national common good; legitimate government office, as a public trust, is expressed via public elections.

5. Sources of legitimacy Charismatic authority based upon the perception that he or she possesses supernatural attributes. ex: a clan chieftain, a priestess, or an ayatollah. Traditional authority wherein the governed populace accept that form of government as legitimate because of its longevity by customs. ex: monarchy. Rational–legal authority derived from the popular perception that the government's power derives from established law and custom ex: representative democracy.