Government is a regular topic in IELTS Writing Task 2. You may be asked how taxpayersâ money should be spent, where the stateâs responsibility ends and personal choice begins, whether harmful things should be banned by law and whether citizens should have more influence on government decisions. In Speaking Part 3, the examiner may ask what local authorities should do and whether young people are interested in politics.
The trap in this topic is the word for what a government decides. In many languages, one word covers both ideas; English has two. Politics is the whole field: elections, parties, the fight for power (Iâm not interested in politics). A governmentâs specific course of action, its set of decisions and rules, is policy: government policy on housing, a new tax policy. When an essay is about what a government does, you usually need policy, yet learners keep writing politics out of habit, and âthe governmentâs approach to migrantsâ turns into âthe governmentâs political lifeâ. Next to it are three small details that cost marks: the pattern after spend money, the preposition after tax and the preposition in take care of.
Below are 27 collocations in four subtopics, the typical mistakes people make with them, and an example of how LetsWords gives feedback on a sentence youâve written. Youâll find the other exam topics in our collection of IELTS vocabulary by topic.
Government and society: words and collocations
Spending and taxes
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| public spending | money spent by the government | Cuts in public spending usually hit the poorest families first. |
| taxpayersâ money | public money collected through taxes | Taxpayersâ money should not be spent on projects that benefit only a few. |
| allocate funds to | to give money to a particular purpose | The council should allocate more funds to libraries and youth centres. |
| raise taxes | to increase taxes | Raising taxes is unpopular, but sometimes it is the only way to keep services running. |
| impose a tax on | to introduce a tax on something | Several countries have imposed a tax on sugary drinks. |
| public services | services provided by the state: transport, schools, hospitals | Public services such as buses and libraries depend on local taxes. |
Laws and regulation
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| government policy | the plans and rules a government follows | A clear government policy on housing would help young families. |
| pass a law | to make a new law official | If parliament passed a law banning junk food adverts, children would see fewer of them. |
| implement a policy | to put a policy into practice | A good idea is worthless if the government cannot implement the policy properly. |
| impose restrictions on | to officially limit something | The state could impose restrictions on fast-food outlets near schools. |
| a ban on | an official rule that forbids something | A total ban on cars in the city centre would hurt local shops. |
| state intervention | government involvement in an area | Some economists argue that state intervention in the housing market does more harm than good. |
| take measures to | to take action to achieve something | Governments must take urgent measures to reduce youth unemployment. |
| take effect | to start to apply officially | The new rules will take effect next January. |
Citizens and democracy
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| civic duty | something every citizen is expected to do | Many people see voting as a civic duty rather than a choice. |
| cast a vote | to vote | Millions of citizens never cast a vote in local elections. |
| voter turnout | the share of people who vote in an election | Low voter turnout weakens the authority of any government. |
| hold sb accountable | to make someone answer for their decisions | A free press helps citizens hold politicians accountable. |
| public opinion | what most people in a society think | Politicians rarely ignore public opinion in an election year. |
| civil liberties | basic rights such as freedom of speech | Mass surveillance may improve security, but at the cost of civil liberties. |
| have a say in | to have the right to influence a decision | Residents should have a say in how their neighbourhood is developed. |
The stateâs responsibilities
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| the welfare state | a system in which the state supports people in need | The welfare state was designed to protect people from poverty in old age and illness. |
| welfare benefits | money paid by the state to people in need | Welfare benefits should encourage people to look for work, not discourage it. |
| the role of the state | what the government should do | The role of the state is to provide what individuals cannot provide for themselves. |
| a matter of personal choice | something each person should decide for themselves | What adults eat should remain a matter of personal choice. |
| the common good | what benefits society as a whole | Sometimes individual freedom has to be limited for the common good. |
| be the responsibility of | to be someoneâs duty | Caring for the elderly should not be the responsibility of families alone. |
Common mistakes
The politics of the government towards migrants has become stricter.
The governmentâs policy on migrants has become stricter.
Politics is political life and the struggle between parties. A governmentâs course of action and its rules are policy, usually followed by on: policy on education, policy on immigration.
The government should spend more money for build new hospitals.
The government should spend more money on building new hospitals.
The usual pattern is spend money on + a noun or an -ing form: spend money on hospitals, spend money on building hospitals. For build isnât grammatical: a preposition canât be followed by the base form of a verb.
The government should introduce a tax for sugary drinks.
The government should introduce a tax on sugary drinks.
A tax is on a product or income: a tax on petrol, a tax on income. With for, the sentence sounds as if the tax were being introduced for the benefit of the drinks.
The government should take care about citizens.
The government should take care of citizens.
To look after someone is take care of someone, not about.
How LetsWords explains mistakes like these
While youâre reading the table, every word looks familiar. The mistakes appear when you write something yourself. Hereâs what one task looks like in LetsWords.
Youâre reviewing take measures to. LetsWords shows you its meaning in your native language, you recall the English expression and write a sentence about the role of the state:
The government must make measures for reducing the unemployment.
The feedback, which LetsWords gives in your native language, points out two mistakes:
- make measures â take measures: in English, you take measures; make measures isnât a collocation;
- the unemployment â unemployment: when you talk about unemployment in general, thereâs no article.
It also suggests replacing for reducing with the more compact to reduce:
The government must take measures to reduce unemployment.
A few days later, the expression comes back in review, and you use it in a different situation, for example in an essay about how tax money should be spent. Thatâs how a collocation on a list becomes one you can recall and use without mistakes.
Start practising with feedback on your mistakes
When you sign up, you choose IELTS as your goal and your level, and LetsWords picks the right practice for you. You can try the feedback before you pay.
Using these collocations in Writing Task 2
A task in the exam style:
In a few countries, voting in national elections is compulsory, and people who do not vote pay a small fine. Some people think every country should introduce this rule. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
A sample paragraph:
Making voting compulsory would strengthen democracy rather than limit freedom. When voter turnout is low, elected politicians represent only the most active groups, and public opinion as a whole is barely heard. If every adult had to cast a vote, parties would have to offer policies for the entire population, including young and low-income citizens who currently stay at home. Critics see this rule as an example of excessive state intervention, yet citizens already accept obligations such as paying taxes for the common good. Voting is a civic duty of the same kind, and a small fine is a modest price for a government that people can genuinely hold accountable.
Why the paragraph works. The position is stated in the first sentence, and every sentence after it supports it: low turnout â unequal representation â the benefit of compulsory voting. The objection (state intervention) is named openly and answered with a comparison to taxes. The highlighted collocations carry the key point of each step. That precision and appropriateness is exactly what Lexical Resource assesses.
Using them in Speaking
A Part 3 question: Do you think ordinary people should have more influence on government decisions?
Yes, at least at the local level. People know best what their own neighbourhood needs, whether itâs a new park or better street lighting, so they should have a say in how taxpayersâ money is spent. Of course, not everyone has time to follow every decision. But even a simple online vote makes it easier, and when people feel involved, theyâre more likely to trust the authorities.
In a spoken answer, the topic collocations sit alongside natural linking phrases: of course, at least, whether itâs.
Practise for free
- policy: plans and rules, an insurance policy, and how it differs from politics;
- spend money: which preposition comes after it;
- take effect: start to apply;
- take steps: take action to deal with a problem;
- take into account: consider something;
- economic vs economical: about the economy or saving money;
- cabinet: a cupboard or the group of government ministers.
From the list to real use
The difference between policy and politics is easy to remember while youâre reading, but in an essay your hand still reaches for the familiar word. Move from the list to real use with LetsWords: practise with the IELTS collection for your level and add collocations from this page to a collection, for example allocate funds to or implement a policy. You recall each expression from its meaning, write a sentence with it, and LetsWords points out the mistake and explains it in your native language (Russian, Korean or Vietnamese), while spaced repetition brings the expression back until it feels natural. Then put the vocabulary to work in a full text: the IELTS Writing section has Task 2 prompts on Government and spending, about how to spend public budgets and taxes and how residents take part in local decisions, and every full answer gets detailed feedback on all four criteria. When you sign up, you answer a few questions about your goal and level, and LetsWords picks your practice; you can try the feedback before you pay. For vocabulary on other topics, see our IELTS vocabulary by topic.