The Government

The Government, in this context, is used to refer to the people who are in some sense in charge. Whether they are in charge because people want them in charge, or because they have forced themselves upon people is not relevant, the important thing is that (1) they are able to change the environment in which people live, and (2) that their view of improvement may not match the view of the individual. Thus whether 'the Government' are changing things to improve them for themselves (i.e. to gain a stronger hold on power) or to improve them for the people becomes moot. In either case there is a possibility of the changes being in conflict with the desires of an individual.

In some sense Government is a form of magic, because if everyone stopped believing in the government except one individual then it would not exist/work for that individual. The same is true for money, and many other abstractions. By contrast gravity will work for you even if you are the only one to believe in it, and is therefore not magic. A Government is in charge of a group by mutual agreement, that is because that group accepts that the Government is in charge. This is true regardless of whether the group accepts that it is right for the Government to be in charge of them, though generally that is also the case.