A childhood belief about politics

When I was a child, I somehow got it into my head that 'The Government' was the same thing as the cobbler who wore a stained white overcoat and worked in a small shed at the bottom of the railway bridge near our house. I'm not sure where the connection came, but I remember it being maddening when, as a five year old, I attempted to explain to my mother the truth of the matter -- hoping she wouldn't be duped into believing the lie that everyone else had bought into.