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

• 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

Intriguingly, not one of the four, board member and former Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert has the best experience to push stronger governance. —Noah Barsky, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025

This tragic event, occurring just days before the Republican National Convention, sent ripples through the political landscape, reshaping the 2024 presidential election and the subsequent trajectory of American governance. —Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 July 2025

But for the majority of taxpayers, the savings weren't big enough to be obvious, said Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. —Tamara Keith, NPR, 11 July 2025

Ester brings more than 30 years of experience in various roles throughout academia that addressed academic and student affairs, faculty and staff governance, and financial management, according to the university. —Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2025

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