Governance and Culture go hand in hand and for the first couple of posts, we will christen this blog space by defining these two terms in hopes that everything else blogged on this platform can be interpreted through the lens of these two pillars of any society.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s begin with the word Governance? I learned a while back that to adequately define a word, you need to find out its etymology. Etymology is the study of the history of words<\/span>, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. Many folks today do not pay attention to the history of words and how they came about or developed\u00a0across\u00a0time but this is a very important tool for understanding the present based on the solid foundation of the past.<\/p>\n GOVERNANCE DEFINED<\/strong><\/p>\n Governance\u00a0comes from a Greek word kuberna\u014d<\/strong>. According to Strong\u2019s Hebrew and Greek dictionaries<\/em>, it means to steer<\/span> referring to what a pilot or helmsman does. It has a Latin derivative which is spelt Gubnero. According to Fr. John Zuhlsdorf’s<\/em> blog, \u201cGubnero was a favorite word of the great ancient Roman orator Cicero. Guberno is \u201cto steer<\/span> or pilot<\/span> a ship\u201d. Logically, it also means \u201cto direct<\/span>, manage<\/span>, conduct<\/span>, govern<\/span>, guide<\/span>\u201d. The Liddell, Scott, Jones Greek Lexicon, or LSJ, says that kuberna\u014d is \u201csteer<\/span>\u201d, \u201cdrive<\/span>\u201d and metaphorically \u201cguide<\/span>, govern<\/span>\u201d and then \u201cact as a pilot\u2026\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n In the case of the governed being a state or a business, governance simply refers to everything that goes into steering or piloting the affairs of the governed<\/strong>. In the case of a state, governance would refer to everything that goes into steering or piloting the affairs of the state for the greater benefit of its citizens. These affairs could range from political affairs to international affairs, economic affairs or even social affairs.<\/p>\n So, when the word governance is used in future posts, this is what is meant as deducted from its etymological root. This is a broad yet simple definition that can be applied to a state, business, family, industry etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Governance and Culture go hand in hand and for the first couple of posts, we will christen this blog space by defining these two terms… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[353],"tags":[146],"class_list":["post-2384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policy-advocacy","tag-governance"],"yoast_head":"\n