Their goal is to inform citizens (the populations they serve) about the things that governments care about. Some of the more common ones are:
- Laws, regulations and policies
- Best practices for safety (food, health, home, industry, road, travel and so on)
- How to submit information that the government requires
- Records of government proceedings
Some are written for any adult to understand (usually the ones about best safety practices and procedures for submitting information). Some are not (records of laws, regulations and proceedings).
Their authors are usually a government department or service. The names of the actual individuals who wrote the texts are not given.
They come in different formats: information pamphlets, government website texts, reports, records of laws, and transcripts of court and other parliamentary proceedings are common examples.
Although there are many different types, there are a few typical features of texts written for the average citizen:
- A very short statement of what the document is and possibly its purpose
- Headings to clearly indicate what each section is about
- Presentation of the most important information first
- Straightforward, informative statements
Useful links:
- Sample text on safety
- Sample text on how to make a tax payment
- Government record of parliamentary proceedings
- For the style that the Government of Canada advises its departments to follow for website content, see this.