Agovernor is anadministrative leader and head of apolity orpolitical region, in some cases, such asgovernors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, agovernor may be either appointed or elected, and the governor's powers can vary significantly, depending on thepublic laws in place locally. The adjective pertaining to a governor isgubernatorial, from the Latin rootgubernare. In afederated state, the governor may serve as head of state andhead of government for their regional polity, while still operating under the laws of the federation, which has its own head of state for the entire federation.[1]
Though the legal and administrative framework of provinces, each administered by a governor, was created by theRomans, the termgovernor has been a convenient term for historians to describe similar systems inantiquity. Indeed, many regions of the pre-Roman antiquity were ultimately replaced by Roman 'standardized' provincial governments after their conquest by Rome. Plato used the metaphor of turning theShip of State with a rudder; the Latin word for rudder isgubernaculum.
In Pharaonic times, the governors of each of the various provinces in the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt (called"nomes" by the Greeks, and whose names often alluded to local patterns of religious worship) are usually known by the Greek word.
From the creation of the earliest Roman subject provinces, a governor was appointed each year to administer each of them. The core function of a Roman governor was as amagistrate or judge, and the management of taxation and the public spending in their area.
Under the Republic and the early Empire, however, a governor also commanded military forces in his province. Republican governors were all men who had served in senior magistracies (theconsulate orpraetorship) in Rome in the previous year, and carried related titles as governor (proconsul orpropraetor). The first emperor, Octavianus Augustus (who acquired or settled a number of new territories; officially his style was republican:Princeps civitatis), divided the provinces into two categories; the traditionally prestigious governorships remained as before (in what have become known as "senatorial" provinces), while in a range of others, he retained the formal governorship himself, delegating the actual task of administration to appointees (usually with the titlelegatus Augusti). Thelegatus sometimes would appoint aprefect (laterprocurator), usually a man ofequestrian rank, to act as his deputy in a subregion of the larger province: the infamous character ofPontius Pilate in the ChristianGospels was a governor of this sort.
A special case was Egypt, a rich 'private' domain and vital granary, where the emperor almost inherited the theocratic status of a pharaoh. The emperor was represented there by a governorsui generis styledpraefectus augustalis, a title evoking thereligious cult of the emperor.
Emperors Diocletian (seeTetrarchy) and Constantine in the third and fourth centuries AD carried out a root and branch reorganisation of the administration with two main features:
Provinces were divided up and became much more numerous (Italy itself, before the 'colonizing homeland', was brought into the system for the first time); they were then grouped intodioceses, and the dioceses in turn into fourpraetorian prefectures (originally each under a residing co-emperor);
Military responsibilities were removed from governors and given to new officials calledcomes rei militaris (the comital title was also granted to many court and civilian administrative positions) ordux, later alsomagister militum.
The prestigious governorships of Africa and Asia remained with the title proconsul, and the special right to refer matters directly to the emperor; thepraefectus augustalis in Alexandria and thecomes Orientis in Antioch also retained special titles. Otherwise, the governors of provinces had various titles, some known asconsularis, some ascorrector, while others aspraeses. Apart from Egypt and the East (Oriens –viz greater Syria), each diocese was directed by a governor known as avicarius. The prefectures were directed bypraefecti praetorio (greatly transformed in their functions from their role in theearly Empire).
This system survived with few significant changes until the collapse of the empire in the West, and in the East, the breakdown of order with the Persian and Arab invasions of the seventh century. At that stage, a new kind of governor emerged, theStrategos. It was a role leading thethemes which replaced provinces at this point, involving a return to the amalgamation of civil and military office which had been the practice under the Republic and the early Empire.
While the Roman administration in the West was largely destroyed in the barbarian invasions, its model was remembered; this model became very influential through two particular vehicles: Roman law and the Christian Church.
In the Ottoman Empire, allpashas (generals) administered a province of the Great Sultan's vast empire, with specific titles (such as Mutessaryf; Vali orWāli which was often maintained and revived in the orientalsuccessor states;Beilerbei (rendered asgovernor-general, as he is appointed above several provinces under individual governors) andDey)
In theBritish Empire, a governor was originally an official appointed by the British monarch (or the cabinet) to oversee acrown colony and was the (sometimes notional) head of the colonial administration. The governors' powers varied from colony to colony, depending on its constitutional setup; while all colonies had a separate court system, the governor only had legislative power in colonies that lacked aLegislative Council orLegislative Assembly. The executive powers vested in the governor varied as well; while many colonies had anExecutive Council to help with the colony's administration, these ranged from presidential cabinet-like bodies that only served as consultative forums without collective executive powers or functions of their own while the governor had an independent decision-making capacity, to fully fledgedparliamentary ministries whose decisions the governor was required to formally execute.
Today, crown colonies of the United Kingdom continue to be administered by governors who hold varying degrees of power. Because of the differentconstitutional histories of the former colonies of theUnited Kingdom, the termgovernor now refers to officials with differing amounts of power.
Administrators,commissioners andhigh commissioners exercise similar powers to governors. (Note: such high commissioners are not to be confused with the high commissioners who are the equivalent ofambassadors between Commonwealth states).
Frequently the name 'Government House' is given to governors' residences.
In the United Kingdom's remainingoverseas territories, the governor is normally a direct appointee of the British government and plays an active role in governing and lawmaking (though usually with theadvice of elected local representatives). The governor's chief responsibility is for the defence and external affairs of the colony.
InAustralia, each state has the governor as its formal representative of the sovereign, as head of the state government. It is not a political office but a ceremonial one. Each state governor is appointed by theAustralian monarch on the advice of thepremier, who is the political chief executive of the state government (until 1986, state governors were appointed by theBritish monarch on the advice of the British government). State governors have emergency reserve powers but these are rarely used. Theterritories of Australia other than the ACT haveadministrators instead of governors, who are appointed formally by thegovernor-general. The governor-general is the representative of and appointed by theking of Australia sovereign at a federal level on the advice of theprime minister of Australia.
As with thegovernors-general of Australia and other Commonwealth realms, state governors usually exercise their power only on the advice of a government minister.
InCanada, there are governors at the federal and provincial levels of government who, within their jurisdictions, act as representatives of theking of Canada, who is Canada's head of state. The federal governor is thegovernor general of Canada, and the governor of each province is thelieutenant governor. The governor general is appointed by the sovereign on the advice of theprime minister of Canada, whereas the lieutenant governors are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. The role of the governor general and of the lieutenant governors in Canada is largely ceremonial, although they do retain the authority to exercise reserve powers in exceptional circumstances.
Each of the three territories is headed by acommissioner appointed by the federalCabinet. Unlike provinciallieutenant governors, they are not representatives of the sovereign but rather are representatives of the federal government.
In the colonial period ofHong Kong, thegovernor was the representative of the sovereign from 1843, which was the year that the authorities and duties of the post were officially defined by theHong Kong Letters Patent and theRoyal Instructions, until thehandover of Hong Kong to thePRC government in 1997. Each governor was appointed bythe monarch and possessed significant powers such as the power of appointing lawmakers in thelegislative council, the power to grant land, the power of veto overbills andmotions, the power ofpardon, etc. At the same time, the governor was also the head of the colonialcabinet, the chairman of theExecutive Council, the president of the Legislative Council (until 1993), as well as the commander-in-chief of theBritish Forces in Hong Kong.
European powers other than the United Kingdom, with colonies in Asia, Africa and elsewhere, gave their top representatives in their colonies the title of governor. Those representatives could be from chartered companies that ruled the colonies. In some of these colonies, there are still officials called governors.
In theRussian Empire, the governorate (guberniya) and governorate-general were the main units of territorial and administrative subdivision since the reforms ofPeter the Great. These were governed by a governor and governor-general respectively.
A special case was theChinese Eastern Railway Zone, which was governed as aconcession granted byImperial China to the Russian 'Chinese Eastern Railway Society' (in RussianObshchestvo Kitayskoy Vostochnoy Zheleznoy Dorogi; established on 17 December 1896 inSt. Petersburg, later moved toVladivostok), which built 1,481 km of tracks (Tarskaya – Hilar – Harbin – Nikolsk-Ussuriski; 3 November 1901 traffic opened) and established on 16 May 1898 the new capital city,Harbin; in August 1898, the defense for Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) acrossnortheast China was assumed by Russia (first under Priamur governor).
On July 1, 1903, the Chinese Eastern Railway was opened and given authority of its own CER Administration (Russian:Upravleniye KVZhD), vested in the Directors of the Chinese Eastern Railway, with the additional quality of Governors of the Chinese Eastern Railway Zone (in Harbin; as such being August 12, 1903 – July 1, 1905 subordinated to the imperial Viceroyalty of the Far East, seeLüshunkou). The post continued to function despite various political changes until afterWorld War II.
Some of the administrativesubdivisions of Russia are headed by governors, while others are headed by presidents or heads of administration. From 1991 to 2005, they were elected by popular vote and from 2005 to 2012, they were appointed by the federal president and confirmed by the province's legislature. After the debate, conducted byState Duma in April 2012, thedirect elections of governors were expected to be restored.[2]
ALandeshauptmann (German for "state captain" or "state governor", literally 'country headman'; pluralLandeshauptleute orLandeshauptmänner as inStyria till 1861;Landeshauptfrau is the female form) is an official title in German for certain political offices equivalent to a governor. It has historical uses, both administrative and colonial, and is now used in federalAustria and inSouth Tyrol, a majority German-speaking province of Italy adjacent toTyrol.
In theNetherlands, the government-appointed heads of the provinces were known asGouverneur from 1814 until 1850, when their title was changed toKing's (orQueen's)Commissioner. In the southern province ofLimburg, however, the commissioner is still informally calledGovernor.
In the Dutch crown's Caribbean Overseas territories (Aruba,Curaçao andSint Maarten), the style governor is still used, alongside the political head of government.
InBelgium, each of theten provinces has a governor, appointed by the regional government. He represents not only the regional but also the federal government in the province. He controls the local governments and is responsible for law and order, security and emergency action. The national capital ofBrussels, which is not part of a province, also hasa governor with nearly the same competencies.
During theAncien Régime in France, the representative of the king in hisprovinces and cities was thegouverneur. Royal officers were chosen from the highestnobility, and provincial and city governors (oversight of provinces and cities was frequently combined) were predominantly military positions in charge of defense and policing. Provincial governors – also called "lieutenant generals" – also had the ability to convoke provincialparlements, provincial estates and municipal bodies. The title "gouverneur" first appeared underCharles VI. The ordinance of Blois of 1579 reduced their number to 12, but an ordinance of 1779 increased their number to 39 (18 first-class governors, 21 second-class governors). Although in principle, they were the king's representatives and their charges could be revoked at the king's will, some governors had installed themselves and their heirs as a provincial dynasty. The governors were at the height of their power from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th century, but their role in provincial unrest during the civil wars ledCardinal Richelieu to create the more tractable positions ofintendants of finance, policing and justice, and in the 18th century the role of provincial governors was greatly curtailed.
Until 1933, the termLandeshauptmann (state governor) was used inPrussia for the head of government of aprovince,[3] In the modern-day states of Germany, the counterpart toLandeshauptmann is theMinisterpräsident (minister-president). In the presentGerman states ofBaden-Württemberg,Bavaria,Hesse, andNorth Rhine-Westphalia there are – and earlier in more German states there were – sub-state administrative regions called inGerman:Regierungsbezirk, which is sometimes translated into English as governorate. Thus its respective head, inGerman:Regierungspräsident, is also translated as governor.
The essentiallymaritime empire of the Venetian republic, comprising Terra Firma, other Adriatic (mainly Istria and Dalmatia) and further Mediterranean (mainly Greek) possessions, used different styles, such as(castelleno e)provveditore (generale) orbaile.
In today's Italy, the official name of a head of aRegione (the Italian subnational entity) isPresidente della Giunta regionale (President of the regional executive council). Since 2000, when a constitutional reform decided the direct election of the president by the people, out of perceived analogy with the US equivalent, there has been a practice among journalists to call the officialgovernatore/governatrice (governor), although other people would normally prefer to usepresidente/presidentessa della Regione (Regional president) informally.
In the various Italian provinces (former principalities and city-states) that became amalgamated as the Papal States, the Holy See exerted temporal power via itslegates anddelegates, including some cardinals
Also inAvignon and the surrounding southern FrenchComtat Venaissin, the home of the popes during their 'Babylonian exile', and retained centuries after, but never incorporated into thePapal States,legates and vice-legates were appointed.
The sovereign modern remnant of the formerly large Papal States, the tiny Vatican City State, is now a mere enclave in Rome, the capital ofItalian Republic. As it is too small to have further administrative-territorial divisions, it is the equivalent of a prime minister, governor and mayor all rolled into one post, styled theGovernor of Vatican City.
In thePeople's Republic of China, the titleGovernor (Chinese:省长;pinyin:shěngzhǎng) refers to the highest ranking executive of aprovincial government. The governor is usually placed second in the provincial power hierarchy, below thesecretary of the provincialChinese Communist Party (CCP) committee (省委书记), who serves as the highest ranking party official in the province. Governors are elected by the provincial congresses and approved by the provincial party chief.[4][5][6] All governors are not locals in the provinces which they govern.[7]
The title can be also used while referring to acounty governor (县长).
InIndia, each state has a ceremonial governor appointed by thepresident of India. These governors are different from the governors who controlled the British-controlled portions of the Indian Empire (as opposed to the princely states) prior to 1947.
A governor is the head of a state in India. Generally, a governor is appointed for each state, but after the 7th Constitutional Amendment, of 1956, one governor can be appointed for more than one state.
InIndonesia, the titlegubernur refers to the highest-ranking executive of aprovincial government. The governor and the vice governor are elected by a direct vote from the people as a couple candidate, so the governor is responsible to the provincial residents. The governor has a term of five years to work in office and can be re-elected for another single period. In case of death, disability, or resignation, the vice governor would stand in as acting governor for some time before being inaugurated as the permanent governor.
The elected governor is inaugurated bythe president, or by theIndonesian minister of home affairs on behalf of the president. In addition, the governor is the representative of the central government in the province and is responsible to the president. The governor's authority is regulated within Law (Indonesian:Undang-undang) No. 32/2004 and Governmental Ordinance (Indonesian:Peraturan Pemerintah) No. 19/2010.
Principally, the governor has the tasks and the authorities to lead governmental services in the province, based upon the policies that have been made together with the provincial parliament. The governor is not the superordinate ofregents ormayors, but only guides supervises, and coordinates the works of city/municipal and regency governments. In other parts, municipal and regency governments have the right to manage each governance affairs based on the autonomy principle and assistantship duties.
InJapan,[8] the titleGovernor (知事,chiji) refers to the highest ranking executive of aprefectural government. The governor was elected by a direct vote from the people and had a fixed term of four years. There is no restriction on the number of terms a person may serve as governor. The governor holds considerable power within the prefecture, including the ability to veto ordinances that have been passed by the prefecture assembly, as well as control of the prefecture's budget and the power to dissolve the prefecture assembly. The governor can be subjected to a recall referendum. A total of one to four vice governors are appointed by the governor with the approval of the assembly. In the case of the governor's death, disability, or resignation, a vice governor would stand in as governor or acting governor.
InMalaysia, each of the four non-monarchical states (Penang,Malacca,Sabah andSarawak) has a ceremonial governor styledYang di-Pertua Negeri, appointed to a renewable four-year term by theYang di-Pertuan Agong, the federalKing of Malaysia, on the advice of theprime minister after consulting the state governments.[9] Each of these states has a separate head of government called theKetua Menteri orchief minister. The four Yang di-Pertua Negeri are members of theConference of Rulers; however, they cannot participate in the election of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, discussions related to the privileges of the Malay rulers and matters concerning the observance of Islam.
InPakistan, each of the four provinces has a governor who is appointed by thepresident. The governor is the representative of the federal in their province and is the ceremonial head of the province whereas thechief minister is the head of the provincial government. The governor exercises powers similar to the president's, in their respective province.
In thePhilippines, the titleGovernor (Gobernador orPunong Lalawigan in Filipino) refers to the highest-ranking executive of aprovince. The governor is elected by a direct vote from the people and has a fixed term of three years. A governor can serve only up to a maximum of three consecutive terms. He may however be suspended by either theombudsman or thepresident, through thesecretary of the interior and local government. He may be removed by the president if found guilty of an administrative case or a criminal act during his tenure. He may be subjected to arecall vote, but unlike a referendum, the voters elect the governor of their choice. In case of death, disability, resignation, forced removal, or suspension, thevice governor, elected separately in the same election for governor, succeeds as governor, or acting governor, as the case may be.
The highest ranking executive of theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was calledregional governor. The regional governor is elected every three years, separately from a regional vice governor who replaces the regional governor if the latter vacates the position.Bangsamoro, its replacement, has thewa'lī (Arabic for "governor") as its head of the region and is elected byparliament for a six-year term.
The provincial councils of the nine provinces ofSri Lanka are headed by governors, as representatives of thepresident. Prior to 1948, in Ceylon (former name for Sri Lanka), thegovernor of Ceylon was the head of theBritish colony.
InThailand, the titleGovernor (ผู้ว่าราชการPhuwa Ratcha Gaan in Thai) refers to the administrator of eachThai province, who is appointed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The only exception is the specially governed district ofBangkok, whose governor is elected by its population.
In theUnited States, the title "Governor" refers to the head of eachstate orinsular territory. Governors retain sovereign power overexecutive andjudiciary, are subordinate to thepresident of the United States and laws provided by theenumerated powers section of the federal constitution, and serve as the political and ceremonial head of the state. Nearly three-fourths of the states (36) hold gubernatorial elections in the same years asmidterm elections (two years offset from presidential elections). Eleven states hold them in the same years as presidential elections (Vermont andNew Hampshire hold elections every two years in every even-numbered year), while the remaining five hold them in odd-numbered years (two in the year after a presidential election, three in the year before).
In colonial North America, governors were chosen in a variety of ways, depending on how the colony was organized. In thecrown colonies of Great Britain, France, and Spain, the governor was chosen by the ruling monarch of the colonizing power or his designees; in British colonies, theBoard of Trade was often the primary decision maker. Colonies based on a corporate charter, such as theConnecticut Colony and theMassachusetts Bay Colony, elected their own governors based on rules spelt out in the charter or other colonial legislation. Inproprietary colonies, such as theProvince of Carolina before it became a crown colony (and was divided intoNorth andSouth), governors were chosen by theLords Proprietor who controlled the colony. In the early years of theAmerican Revolutionary War, eleven of theThirteen Colonies evicted (with varying levels of violence) royal and proprietary governors. The other two colonies (Connecticut andRhode Island) had corporate charters; Connecticut GovernorJonathan Trumbull was governor before and during the war period, while in Rhode Island, GovernorJoseph Wanton was removed from office in 1775 for failing to support the rebel war effort.
Before achieving statehood, many of the fifty states wereterritories. Administered by the federal government, they had governors who were appointed by thepresident and confirmed by theSenate rather than elected by the resident population.
InMexico,governor refers to the elected leader of each of the nation's thirty-oneFree and Sovereign States with the officialSpanish title beingGobernador. Mexican governors are directly elected by the citizens of each state for a six-year term and cannot be re-elected.
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Many of theSouth American republics (such asChile andArgentina) have provinces or states run by elected governors, with offices similar in nature to U.S. state governors.
Until the1930 Revolution, the heads of the BrazilianProvinces, now calledStates, were styled as (provincial/state) presidents (presidentes). From 1930 to 1945, they were styled either governors (governadores) or, when appointed by the federal government, intervenors (interventores). From 1945 on, they have only been called governors.
As a generic term,governor is used for various 'equivalent'politician who are the head of a state or province, rendering other official titles such as:
The wordgovernor refers to a member ofconfederation of governors of aprivate sector entity who is a shareholder and elected by all of the other shareholders of that private sector entity to be a member ofconfederation of governors at a private sector entity (for profit andnon-profit).
^Zhiyue Bo (2007).China's elite politics: political transition and power balancing. Series on contemporary China. World Scientific. p. 385.ISBN9789812700414.
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