as in autonomy
the state of being free from the control or power of another
despite pessimistic predictions, self-governance has worked out well for the former colony
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of self-governance
The law, which gives D.C. residents a greater degree of self-governance but retains Congress’s constitutional authority over the city, only enabled Trump to federalize the D.C. police for up to 30 days.
—
Connor Greene, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Tibetans, initially resistant to the transfer of the community’s political mandate from pontiff to public, slowly but steadily embraced this experiment in democratic self-governance.
—Tenzin Dorjee, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2025
Trump’s show of force is an imposition on a citizenry already aware that its democratic self-governance is tenuous.
—Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2025
Trump has repeatedly threatened to strip the district’s government of its home rule, which allows the federal district to maintain limited self-governance.
—David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 10 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-governance
Connor Greene, Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Tibetans, initially resistant to the transfer of the community’s political mandate from pontiff to public, slowly but steadily embraced this experiment in democratic self-governance.
—Tenzin Dorjee, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2025
Trump’s show of force is an imposition on a citizenry already aware that its democratic self-governance is tenuous.
—Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2025
Trump has repeatedly threatened to strip the district’s government of its home rule, which allows the federal district to maintain limited self-governance.
—David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 10 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-governance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-governance
Noun
-
Across the eight-episode first season, the Crutchfields navigate living under one roof while trying to maintain their own autonomy.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
3 Nov. 2025
-
The plea—legally impossible but symbolically potent—highlights the limits of judicial authority over prison placements, the strain of the mental health crises inside the federal system, and the uneasy intersection between acts of political violence and debates about personal autonomy at life’s end.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Rarely in American history have US presidents supported constraints on American sovereignty.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The flag, a symbol of the tribe’s long and hard-fought sovereignty, the ways its people have given to the Elk Grove community, and ties to land that date back, in Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen’s remarks, to time immemorial, launches the city’s commemoration of Native American Heritage Month.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
As this brief survey suggests, the patriots’ success in drawing foreign partners into the war was essential to achieving American independence.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
-
The forest for the trees Nestled between China, India and Thailand, Myanmar gained independence from Britain in 1948 but came under military dictatorship in 1962.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The Brazilian feature follows a 75-year-old woman whose journey through the Amazon becomes a manifesto on freedom and dignity.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
8 Nov. 2025
-
My mother has been denied access to medical care, the right to speak, and every basic human freedom.—
Kim Aris,
Time,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-governance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-governance. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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