Concept

Governance

Overview

Governance is the overall complex system or framework of processes, functions, structures, rules, laws and norms born out of the relationships, interactions, power dynamics and communication within an organized group of individuals. It sets the boundaries of acceptable conduct and practices of different actors of the group and controls their decision-making powers through the creation and enforcement of rules and regulations. Furthermore, it also manages, allocates and mobilizes relevant resources and capacities of different members and sets the overall direction of the group in order to effectively address its specific collective needs, problems and challenges.

The concept of governance can be applied to social, political or economic entities (groups of individuals engaged in some purposeful activity) such as a state and its government (public administration), a governed territory, a society, a community, a social group (like a tribe or a family), a formal or informal organization, a corporation, a non-governmental organization, a non-profit organization, a project team, a market, a network or even on the global stage. "Governance" can also pertain to a specific sector of activities such as land, environment, health, internet, security, etc. The degree of formality in governance depends on the internal rules of a given entity and its external interactions with similar entities. As such, governance may take many forms, driven by many different motivations and with many different results.

Smaller groups may rely on informal leadership structures, whereas effective governance of a larger group typically relies on a well-functioning governing body, which is a specific group of people entrusted with the authority and responsibilities to make decisions about the rules, enforcing them and overseeing the smooth operation of the group within the broader framework of governance. The most formal type of a governing body is a government, which has the responsibility and authority to make binding decisions for a specific geopolitical system (like a country) through established rules and guidelines. A government may operate as a democracy where citizens vote on who should govern towards the goal of public good. Beyond governments, other entities can also have governing bodies. These can be legal entities or organizations, such as corporations, companies or non-profit organizations governed by small boards of directors pursuing more specific aims. They can also be socio-political groups including hierarchical political structures, tribes, religious subgroups, or even families. In the case of a state, governance expresses a growing awareness of the ways in which diffuse forms of power and authority can secure order even in the absence of state activity. A variety of external actors without decision-making power can influence this system of state governance. These include lobbies, think-tanks, political parties, non-government organizations, community and media. Governance is also shaped by external factors such as globalization, social movements or technological progress.

Many institutions of higher education - such as the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Munk School of Global Affairs, Sciences Po Paris, Graduate Institute Geneva, Hertie School, and the London School of Economics, among others - offer governance as an academic subjects. Many social scientists prefer to use the term "governance" when discussing the process of governing, because it covers the whole range of institutions and involved relationships.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

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The old saying, that 'equality makes friendship,' is happy and also true; but there is obscurity and confusion as to what sort of equality is meant. For there are two equalities which are called by the same name, but are in reality in many ways almost the opposite of one another; one of them may be introduced without difficulty, by any state or any legislator in the distribution of honours: this is the rule of…
Plato, Laws
States what Governance is; the author is tied to Governance in the knowledge graph.
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We usually call a state which is governed by one person for the common good, a kingdom; one that is governed by more than one, but by a few only, an aristocracy; either because the government is in the hands of the most worthy citizens, or because it is the best form for the city and its inhabitants. When the citizens at large govern for the public good, it is called a state; which is also a common name for all…
Aristotle, Politics
States what Governance is.
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A body politic of this kind is called a Democracy, which may be defined as a society which wields all its power as a whole. The sovereign power is not restrained by any laws, but every one is bound to obey it in all things; such is the state of things implied when men either tacitly or expressly handed over to it all their power of self-defense, or in other words, all their right. For if they had wished to retain…
Benedictus de Spinoza, The Philosophy of Spinoza
States what Governance is.
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Related ideas

Opposing perspectives

Political science

Place in the tradition

Part of Japanese philosophy.

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