governance

/ˈgʌvərnəns/

/ˈgʌvənɪns/

You've heard of governors and government, and governance is related. It’s the nuts and bolts of how towns or states or countries operate, and it can also apply to companies. Corporate governance is how large companies are organized and run.

Governments use the powers you give it to pass laws and enforce them, fix your roads, collect taxes — all those things you can’t do alone — and the act of doing that is called governance. Corporations have their own sort of government — they're run by boards of directors who tackle issues of governance, making sure the company is run responsibly. Scholars study theories of governance — ideas about how society should be organized to benefit everyone.

Definitions of governance

1. noun

   the act of governing; exercising authority
   synonyms: administration, governing, government, government activity

   types:

   misgovernment, misrule

   government that is inefficient or dishonest

   lawmaking, legislating, legislation

   the act of making or enacting laws

   trust busting

   (law) government activities seeking to dissolve corporate trusts and monopolies (especially under the United States antitrust laws)

   criminalisation, criminalization

   legislation that makes something illegal

   decriminalisation, decriminalization

   legislation that makes something legal that was formerly illegal

   enactment, passage

   the passing of a law by a legislative body

   type of:

   social control

   control exerted (actively or passively) by group action
2. noun

   the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something
   “the governance of an association is responsible to its members”

   synonyms: administration, brass, establishment, governing body, organisation, organization

   types:

   Curia

   (Roman Catholic Church) the central administration governing the Roman Catholic Church

   top brass

   the most important persons in a governing body

   executive

   persons who administer the law

   bench, judiciary

   persons who administer justice

   county council

   the elected governing body of a county

   government officials, officialdom

   people elected or appointed to administer a government

   management

   those in charge of running a business

   Bush administration

   the executive under President George W. Bush

   Clinton administration

   the executive under President Clinton

   Bush administration

   the executive under President George H. W. Bush

   Reagan administration

   the executive under President Reagan

   Carter administration

   the executive under President Carter

   civil service

   the government workforce exclusive of military service

   house

   the management of a gambling house or casino

   bureaucracy, bureaucratism

   nonelective government officials

   type of:

   body

   a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity