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 ReportExamples 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
That spring, Disney and Comcast negotiated a pact that outlined the governance of the service while it was jointly owned by the two companies and also provided a blueprint to dissolve their partnership.
—Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
But now those links are absent from the governance documents page.
—Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 8 June 2025
The Path Forward: Practical Steps Establishing global prosocial AI governance requires coordinated action across multiple levels.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 8 June 2025
The businesses making the most successful transitions to this new regulatory landscape will have a specific point person with true social, environmental governance, risk, and legal experience identified by a board that understands the global nuances of sustainability needed to pull it all together.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for governance
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Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
But now those links are absent from the governance documents page.
—Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 8 June 2025
The Path Forward: Practical Steps Establishing global prosocial AI governance requires coordinated action across multiple levels.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 8 June 2025
The businesses making the most successful transitions to this new regulatory landscape will have a specific point person with true social, environmental governance, risk, and legal experience identified by a board that understands the global nuances of sustainability needed to pull it all together.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for governance
Cite this Entry
“Governance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governance. Accessed 12 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
governance
noun
gov·er·nance
ˈgəv-ər-nən(t)s
: the exercise of control : government
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