Originating from the Latin verb gubernare and ancient Greek word kubernaein, governance means ‘to steer’. Literally, it means ‘to control, guide or manipulate’.

Governance is when someone guides us, helps in regulating ourselves, and gives us a structure to operate within. If we lived in complete isolation, we may not need to be governed. But as society is inherently complicated, governance helps society or groups within the society organise themselves to make decisions. This concept of Governance is deployed in a variety of contexts (such as corporate governance, internet governance), however the one which we come across most often is that of public administration and closely related with Governments.

Governance is a process

While the Government is a structure, Governance itself is a process. It is a continued interaction of those who govern and are governed, that evolves over time and is often iterative (Yang, Shan). The iteration, or repetition, leads to a set of rules, norms and actions, which are then sustained over time. The process of interaction also leads to decision-making of various actors including governments as well as citizens through negotiations between them. Some such processes of negotiations include elections in a democratic setting. In such negotiations, the diverse interests of the actors may be aligned, accommodated or made to comply.

Governance has Role for both Government and Non-Governmental Sector

In context of a political administration process, the State is not the only actor in Governance. In contemporary political processes, the State has the authority that is needed to govern but the authority need not ‘come from the organs of the government’ (Keping). This authority may be embodied in public agencies, private agencies or civil society. These various institutions work in coordination with the government to meet societal needs.

This embodiment of governance manifests in various ways. For example our homes are perhaps part of a building or locality society, the welfare society of which decides the maintenance, facilities and rules of the society. The locality is part of a ward in a city, under the jurisdiction of the councillor that is elected by us. The municipality, or nagar nigam of our city governs the roads, electricity, water, etc., that reaches our homes. And so on.

Thus, we are governed by the public sector (union, state and local governments i.e. municipalities or nagar nigams, panchayats, local authorities such as ward and district committees), the private sector such as businesses, corporates, NGOs that do service delivery, i.e. bring water/electricity or other services to citizens, as well as the voluntary sector, i.e. resident welfare associations, citizens, not-for-profits, and other players that liaison with governments on a voluntary basis.

The institutions and actors of governance encompass the private, voluntary and public sectors. The interactions among them are informal, as well as formal. An interaction is formal when there is a contract, a regulation, or any legality of the association. A contractor that has been hired through a government tender to build a bridge is a formal interaction, while a group of residents that assemble regularly and discuss civic issues, or the private garbage collection within your colony is an example of an informal interaction.

This nexus is what resists the centralisation of power or authority in one agency or one government of a country. Since there is a nexus of governance, the assumption in a democracy is that the actors can question authority and thus provide a system of checks and balances.

Governance is coordination, not control

The flipside of the nexus referred to above is that coordinating among these many actors of governance then becomes very important.

The public sector is a crucial actor of governance, at least in contemporary times, since it holds the reins to ‘steer’ governance. The government has the final say when it comes to policy, it regulates the private sector, and it works for, and is accountable to the citizen.

While service delivery, consultation, framing of policies and laws in some cases are aspects that have been outsourced to the private, informal and voluntary sector by the government, it is the public sector which controls the state of governance in a nation-state at the end of the day, and is the author of the formal laws, policies and procedures that define governance.

Governance is an interaction, not an institution

Unlike the government, which consists of multiple institutions (union government, state governments, city governments), governance is the interaction amongst these governments as well as non-governments. The interaction is to achieve coordination.

There is no one place, or institution, that holds all the control and power to administrate or govern society or a country. While the union government seems to hold maximum power in a country like India, the democratic nature of our country does not formally allow for all the power to be contained within one institution that governs us.