government Political system by which a body of people is adminis¬ tered and regulated. Different levels of government typically have differ¬ ent responsibilities. The level closest to those governed is local government. Regional governments comprise a grouping of individual communities. National governments nominally control all the territory within internationally recognized borders and have responsibilities not shared by their subnational counterparts. Most governments exercise executive, legislative (see legislature), and judicial (see judiciary) powers and split or combine them in various ways. Some also control the religious affairs of their people; others avoid any involvement with religion. Politi¬ cal forms at the national level determine the powers exercised at the sub¬ national levels; these have included autocracy, democracy, fascism, monarchy, ougarchy, plutocracy (government by the wealthy), theocracy, and TOTALITARIANISM.
government budget Forecast of governmental expenditures and rev¬ enues for the ensuing fiscal year. In modern industrial economies, the budget is the key instrument for the execution of government economic policies. Because government budgets may promote or retard economic growth in certain areas of the economy and because views about priori¬ ties in government spending differ widely, government budgets are the focus of competing political interests. In the U.S. the federal budget is prepared by the president’s Office of Management and Budget. The U.S. Congress has considerable input, influencing the budget’s preparation through negotiations with the president and considering it in detail on its official submission to Congress.
governor In technology, a device that automatically maintains the rotary speed of an engine within reasonably close limits regardless of the load. A typical governor regulates an engine’s speed by varying the rate at which fuel or working fluid is furnished to it. Nearly all governors work by centrifugal force and consist of a pair of masses rotating about a spindle driven by the engine and kept from flying outward, usually by springs. With an increase in speed, the controlling force of the springs is over¬ come and the masses move outward, opening valves supplying the engine with its working fluid or fuel. James Watt invented a governor for con¬ trolling steam engines. Modem governors are used to regulate the flow of gasoline to internal-combustion engines and the flow of steam, water, or gas to various types of turbines. See also flywheel.
Gower Vgau-or, 'g6r\, John (b. 1330?—d. 1408, London?) English poet. His works, in the tradition of courtly love and moral allegory, strongly influenced other poets of his day. His friend Geoffrey Chaucer called him “moral Gower.” His Speculum meditantis (c. 1374-78), writ¬
ten in French, is an allegorical work on vices and virtues. Vox clamantis (1385?), his major Latin poem, owes much to Ovid. His greatest work in English is the Confessio Amantis (begun c. 1386), a long collection of exemplary tales of love.
Goya (y Lucientes), Francisco (Jose) de (b. March 30, 1746, Fuendetodos, Spain—d. April 16, 1828, Bordeaux, France) Spanish painter and printmaker. He came to maturity in 1775 with the first of some 60 cartoons for the royal tapestry factory of Santa Barbara, painted through 1792. In 1780 he was elected to the Royal Academy in Madrid and in 1786 was appointed painter to Charles III. By 1799, under the patronage of Charles IV, he had become the most successful and fashion¬ able artist in Spain; his famous The Family of Charles TV was painted at this time (1800). Though he welcomed his honours and success, the record he left of his patrons and their society is ruthlessly penetrating. The eroti¬ cism of his famous Naked Maja and Clothed Maja (c. 1800-05) caused him to be summoned before the Inquisition in 1815. After an illness left him permanently deaf in the 1790s, his work took on an exaggerated real¬ ism that borders on caricature. His 80 Caprichos (“Caprices”; publ. 1799), satirical prints attacking political, social, and religious abuses, marked an outstanding achievement in the history of printmaking. When Napoleon invaded Spain (1808-15), Goya produced the 82-etching series The Disasters of War (1810-20). He settled in Bordeaux, France, in 1824, resigned as court painter in 1826, and began working in lithography. He had no immediate followers, but his work profoundly influenced 19th- century European art.
Goyen \'kui-o,\ English Vgoi-onV, Jan Josephs(zoon) van (b. Jan. 13, 1596, Leiden, Neth.—d. April 27, 1656, The Hague) Dutch painter and etcher. He studied in Leiden and Haarlem before settling at The Hague in 1632. Confining himself primarily to the scenery of Holland, he painted on wood panels; intricate detail, low horizons, and subtle atmospheric effects characterize his work. He excelled at capturing the moods of sky and water, Dutch cities, and lowland winter scenes. A prolific draftsman, he also executed many landscape etchings. He had numerous imitators. With Salomon van Ruysdael, he was the outstanding master of tonal land¬ scape painting in 17th-century Holland.
Gozzoli \got-'ts6-le\, Benozzo orig. Benozzo di Lese \'la-sa\ (b. 1420, Florence—d. Oct. 4, 1497, Pistoia) Italian Renaissance painter. Early in his career he assisted Lorenzo Ghiberti on the east doors of the Baptistery in Florence and Fra Angelico on frescoes in Florence, Rome, and Orvieto. His reputation today rests on the breathtaking fresco cycle The Journey of the Magi (1459-61) in the chapel of Florence’s Medici- Riccardi Palace. His work as a whole was undistinguished, however. He painted several altarpieces and a series of 25 frescoes of Old Testament scenes, now badly damaged, for the Camposanto in Pisa (1468-84).
Detail with Lorenzo de' Medici from "Procession of the Magi," fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli, 1459; in the Medici-Riccardi Palace, Florence.
SCAIA—ART RESOURCE
GPS See Global Positioning System
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
786 i Graaff ► Graham
Graaff, Robert Van de See Robert J. Van de Graaff
Grable, Betty orig. Ruth Elizabeth Grable (b. Dec. 18, 1916, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.—d. July 2, 1973, Santa Monica, Calif.) U.S. film actress. She performed as a chorus-line dancer in 1930s musicals, then was featured in musicals such as Down Argentine Way (1940) and Moon over Miami (1941). Noted for her shapely legs, she became a top star and a favourite pinup girl of U.S. troops in World War II. After the war, she starred in films such as Mother Wore Tights ( 1947) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), but as the film musical fell into decline so did her career.
Gracchus Vgra-kosV, Gaius Sempronius (b. c. 160—d. 121 bc, Grove of Furrina, near Rome) Roman tribune (123-122 bc). He joined the outcry over the murder of his brother, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and helped implement his agrarian law. He combined the votes of plebeians and equites to pass reforms aimed at curbing the corruption of the nobil¬ ity. His attempts to extend citizenship to Rome’s Italian allies and more freedom to plebeians were unpopular. Though he came from an aristo¬ cratic family, his policies were seen by extreme conservatives as an attempt to destroy the aristocracy. He committed suicide while under siege on the Aventine Hill.
Gracchus, Tiberius Sempronius (b. c. 169—d. June 133 bc, Rome) Roman aristocrat and tribune (133 bc). He sponsored agrarian reforms to restore the class of small independent farmers on which the Roman economy and military depended. Although a traditional system only 30 years before, it was seen as radical by his Senate enemies. He was assas¬ sinated in a riot sparked by senatorial opponents angered by his unortho¬ dox political tactics. His brother Gaius Sempronius Gracchus enforced his reforms.
grace In Christian theology, the unmerited gift of divine favour, which brings about the salvation of a sinner. The concept of grace has given rise to theological debate over the nature of human depravity and the extent to which individuals may contribute to their own salvation through free will. Though in principle the ideas of merit and grace are mutually exclu¬ sive, the question of whether grace may be given as a reward for good works or for faith alone was important in the Protestant Reformation. There has also been controversy over the means of grace: Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and some Protestants believe that it is conferred through the sacraments, while some other Protestants (e.g., Baptists) hold that participation in grace results from personal faith alone. See also jus¬ tification; ORIGINAL SIN.