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
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
Benjamin DeMottEnron, and the corporate disasters that followed, forced many companies to get serious about governance.—Louis Lavelle
Louis LavelleTheirs was the perennial problem of quick-witted subjects under the governance of dull-witted administrators.—Declan Kiberd
Declan KiberdMichael 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
U.S. News & World ReportSynonyms
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 European system of governance was based on the extreme hierarchal assumptions of monarchy.
—Rebecca Brannon / Made By History, TIME, 3 July 2024
Advertisement Two of their colleagues, Supervisors Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell, have previously introduced proposals aimed at changing the county’s governance structure, albeit at a slower pace.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2024
Some experts hailed the board — which could overrule even Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — as a new model for social media governance.
—Naomi Nix, Washington Post, 30 June 2024
Already mushrooming under Moïse’s unpopular rule and Haiti’s weak governance, criminal armed groups stepped into the power vacuum and grew in strength and firepower.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 29 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for governance 
Rebecca Brannon / Made By History, TIME, 3 July 2024
Advertisement Two of their colleagues, Supervisors Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell, have previously introduced proposals aimed at changing the county’s governance structure, albeit at a slower pace.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2024
Some experts hailed the board — which could overrule even Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — as a new model for social media governance.
—Naomi Nix, Washington Post, 30 June 2024
Already mushrooming under Moïse’s unpopular rule and Haiti’s weak governance, criminal armed groups stepped into the power vacuum and grew in strength and firepower.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 29 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for governance
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'governance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near governance
Cite this Entry
“Governance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governance. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
governance
noun
gov·er·nance
ˈgəv-ər-nən(t)s
: the exercise of control : government
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share