Government

Industry Overview

Some 20 million people work for government—agencies and departments that on a federal, state, or local level handle issues as diverse as highway construction and the protection of wilderness areas, public health programs, subsidies to tobacco farmers, the space program, and fireworks displays on the Fourth of July.

Federal and state legislators make laws, and city and county supervisors pass ordinances. Executive agencies—from the White House to the state house to city hall—issue regulations. Governments employ armies of civil servants, bureaucrats, lawyers, and specialists of all kinds to implement their policies and staff their programs. These include people who analyze policy and draft legislation for U.S. senators, people who issue building permits at town hall, and everyone in between. InternZoo lists numbers of opportunities in the government sector.