Describe The Roles of Government In The Present Business Environment In the present business environment governments have the power to change and make laws, having a major role and influence on the business environment. There are three levels of government; federal, state and local. The federal government has power over such areas as; company law, income tax, trade etc. State government has power over pollution, price controls, state courts etc. and local government has power over rates, building approvals and zoning. Through zoning the local government can decide where businesses are located, or how many similar businesses shou