政府的产生是为了满足社会公共需要,提供公共产品和公共服务。在不同的社会发展阶段,社会公共需要不同,政府的活动范围也不相同,即政府的定位也不相同。西方国家近代以来一直重视政府如何定位问题的研究,有不少有影响的理论。学习西方公共管理理论和历史,有以下几点值得我们借鉴和重视: The government was created to meet the public needs of society and to provide public goods and public services. In different stages of social development, social and public needs are different, the scope of government activities are not the same, that is, the government’s position is not the same. Since the modern times, Western countries have always attached great importance to the study of how the government positions itself. There are many influential theories. Learning western public management theory and history, the following points worth our reference and attention: