Governance
Governance is the process of making and enforcing decisions within an organization or society. It encompasses decision-making, rule-setting, and enforcement mechanisms to guide the functioning of an organization or society. Effective governance is essential for maintaining order, achieving objectives, and addressing the needs of the community or members within the organization. Furthermore, effective governance promotes transparency, fosters trust among stakeholders, and adapts to changing circumstances, ensuring the organization or society remains responsive and resilient in achieving its goals. It is the process of interactions through the laws, social norms, power (social and political) or language as structured in communication of an organized society[1] over a social system (family, social group, formal or informal organization, a territory under a jurisdiction or across territories). It is done by the government of a state, by a market, or by a network. It is the process of choosing the right course among the actors involved in a collective problem that leads to the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of acceptable conduct and social order".[2] In lay terms, it could be described as the processes that exist in and between formal institutions.
This article is about the general concept. For the academic journal, see Governance (journal). For information on the administrative structure of Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Administration.
A variety of entities (known generically as governing bodies) can govern. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a given geopolitical system (such as a political entity) by establishing rules and guidelines. Other types of governing include an organization (such as a legal entity recognized as such by a government), a socio-political group (hierarchical political organization, tribe, violent group, family, identifiable religious suborg, etc.), or another, informal group of people.
Governance is the way rules, norms and actions are structured and sustained.[3] The degree of formality depends on the internal rules of a given social entity and, externally, with its business term. As such, governance may take many forms, driven by many different motivations and with many different results. 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. For instance, a government may operate as a democracy where citizens vote on who should govern and the public good is the goal, while a non-profit organization or a corporation may be governed by a small board of directors and pursue more specific aims.
In addition, a variety of external actors without decision-making power can influence the process of governing. These include lobbies, think tanks, political parties, non-government organizations, community and media.
Most institutions of higher education offer governance as an area of study, such as the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Munk School of Global Affairs, Sciences Po Paris, Graduate Institute Geneva, Hertie School, and London School of Economics, among others.
Many social scientist use governance since it covers the whole range of institutions and relationships involved in the process of governing.[4]
As a normative concept[edit]
Fair governance[edit]
When discussing governance in particular organizations, the quality of governance within the organization is often compared to a standard of good governance. In the case of a business or of a non-profit organization, for example, good governance relates to consistent management, cohesive policies, guidance, processes and decision-rights for a given area of responsibility, and proper oversight and accountability. "Good governance" implies that mechanisms function in a way that allows the executives (the "agents") to respect the rights and interests of the stakeholders (the "principals"), in a spirit of democracy.