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 Smithsonian, which receives significant federal funding, now faces pressure over both its governance and its relationship with the administration. — George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2026

Humans set the strategy and creative direction while governance is built directly into the workflow—eliminating unnecessary review cycles without sacrificing brand consistency or compliance. — Jamie Garverick, Fortune, 15 July 2026

Reaching that level required auditable systems for clinical governance, staff qualifications, patient pathway design, information handling, quality management and continuity of care. — Ascend Agency, Mercury News, 13 July 2026

Jean-Claude Mputu, deputy director at Resource Matters, a nonprofit focused on natural-resource governance, said the US is having to play catch-up with China in DR Congo, and obtaining geological data is key to those efforts. — Ruben Nyanguila, semafor.com, 13 July 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