governance

noun

gov·​er·​nance ˈgə-vər-nən(t)s 

plural governances

: the act or process of governing or overseeing the control and direction of something (such as a country or an organization) : government

a centralized system of governance

the challenges of national governance

… the governance of amateur sport in America …

—P. S. Wood

… three years before he died, [Lionel] Trilling pressed the point that the way a nation thinks determines in the end the quality of its governance.

—Benjamin DeMott

Enron, and the corporate disasters that followed, forced many companies to get serious about governance.

—Louis Lavelle

Theirs was the perennial problem of quick-witted subjects under the governance of dull-witted administrators.

—Declan Kiberd

Michael Dukakis, at the 1988 Democratic convention, said governance was about competence, not ideology. He got it half right: Competence is important to governance, but ideology is critical …

—U.S. News & World Report

Synonyms of governance

• government
• administration
• rule
• regime

Examples of governance in a Sentence

They have very different approaches to the governance of the city.

after World War II, the four Allied nations shared the governance of the territory of postwar Germany under the Allied Control Council

Recent Examples on the Web

The announcement signals a potential compromise in a standoff that had threatened to delay Bell’s confirmation and raised broader questions about governance at Florida’s flagship university. — Garrett Shanley, Miami Herald, 24 June 2026

Rather than treating access as a static configuration or something that becomes increasingly opaque over time, this approach shifts the governance emphasis toward permissions being reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis. — Carl D'halluin, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026

The Yolo Local Agency Formation Commission agreed to revisit regional fire protection issues identified by the grand jury and said its next municipal services review would examine opportunities to improve fire district coordination, governance and emergency response. — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 23 June 2026

Meanwhile, heirs are pushing for greater transparency, succession planning and formal governance structures around family assets. — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 23 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

see govern

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing governance

• self-governance

Kids Definition

governance

noun

gov·​er·​nance ˈgəv-ər-nən(t)s 

: the exercise of control : government