Governments (especially authoritarian ones) like to perpetuate that way of thinking. A government that doesn’t speak for the citizenry is illegitimate. To avoid the appearance (even if it’s a thin veil) of being despotic tyrants and/or bought and paid for by private interests (but I repeat myself), they perpetuate the notion that the people agree with the government, even to the point of being synonymous with the people. And the media goes along with it. They don’t speak of the government as a distinct entity from the borders or citizenry of the country. They don’t say “the government of the U.S.A. bombed Iran”, they say “the U.S. bombed Iran”. They don’t say “the Israeli government expanded their borders and genocided more Palestinian people”, they say “Isreal annexed disputed land”. It’s just part of how the propaganda machine works. In fact, it’s an integral part of how the propaganda machine works.