I agree with Meow, my first thought when I read it I thought of strength/determination/courage etc. If I was going to talk about having a structure, I would expect to see something like The government has the foundations of a good plan to get this over with. Even in Peachy's sentence "the backbone of the industry". I still think of strength as the backbone really supports everything!

does backbone not mean willpower? :/ backbone [bæ̱kboʊn] backbones 1) Your backbone is the column of small linked bones down the middle of your back. Syn: spine 2) usu with The backbone of an organization or system is the part of it that gives it its main strength. The small business people of Britain are the economic backbone of the nation. 3) oft with If you say that someone has no backbone, you think they do not have the courage to do things which need to be done. You might be taking drastic measures and you've got to have the backbone to do that. Syn: spine (Collins) to be honest, I would interpret it precisely like "they have courage to do it", not structure more native speakers to clarify???

It means that they have the structure to complete a task. They are equipped to take care of the issue. They have the means to get it accomplished. (where did you read this?) What was it about?

To have "backbone" It means to have enough resources available to achieve the objective (any goal). These resources can be emotional (courage/determination or social support), fiscal (enough money/economic support), human (military/government or relationship support). Generally it is used when the task or goal is daunting (very difficult) and it is used to describe a person or a group that needs to succeed in the task/goal.

Yes, I agree with Kevin. "Backbone" means you have the structure, everything else hangs off it. We often talk about "the backbone of the industry". Strangely, if you replaced "backbone" with the synonym "spine", it has a different meaning, "spine" suggesting courage, ie. the opposite of "spineless". Either way, you're obviously not talking about my government. :P