Government Satire Then and Now Throughout time, there has always been a government to look after the people of this difficult world . In search of order and justice, various civilizations have attempted, unsuccessfully, to create the perfect government for their people and their heritage. However, the pursuit of this perfection has often resulted in many bad decisions, countless wars, and a plethora of figureheads leading the "progress" of government throughout time. The government officials' mistakes were accompanied by the opinions of the people he served, which included critical assessments and plenty of jokes. The struggles of their leaders have often prompted much satire of the institution itself and aspects of its imperfections. The most notable satirical account of government was made by Jonathan Swift in 1726 with his novel Gulliver's Travels, followed by common satire in contemporary culture on television shows such as Saturday Night Live and Family Guy. Then as now, much laughter was and is made at the expense of human errors committed at the most public and official level of life - government. Swift's satire of the English government begins with the emergence of tiny feet on a monstrous large man washed up on the beach. In Gulliver's Travels, a traveling doctor named Lemuel Gulliver is introduced to the customs and history of a race called the Lilliputians; it was their governmental practices that interested him most. Satire of the English government is introduced in the discussion of the division of the Lilliputians made by the wearing of "high heels" and "low heels" by its inhabitants to separate their opinions on the government. The "high heels", also called the Tramecksans, have a Fritsche 2 support for the emperor and the const...... middle of paper ......ne. This teaches us that satire is a pervasive feature of life and that the government is a major target likely to be closely scrutinized by its people. Like its citizens, civil servants have faults and make mistakes that are visible to all and as long as there are civil servants in government who make mistakes, there will be someone who will laugh at their false regality and the perfection they believe they possess. From Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels to sketches on SNL and segments on shows like Family Guy, the imperfections of government have always provided comic relief for people around the world. The family guy. FOX. KTVI, St. Louis. May 13. 2007.Television.Saturday Night Live. BNC. KSDK, St. Louis. October 5. 2013. Television. Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. New York: Signet Classic, 1983. Print.