governor

Dictionary: gov·er·nor (gŭv'ər-nər) pronunciation

(Abbr. Gov.) A person who governs, especially:
1. The chief executive of a state in the United States.
2. An official appointed to govern a colony or territory.
3. A member of a governing body.
The manager or administrative head of an organization, business, or institution.
(Abbr. Gov.) A military commandant.
Chiefly British. Used as a form of polite address for a man.
A feedback device on a machine or engine that is used to provide automatic control, as of speed, pressure, or temperature.

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5min Related Video: governor

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US History Encyclopedia: Governors

The term "governors" describes the chief executives of the American colonies and, later, of the states of the Union. The governor's role has evolved over the course of American history, but on the whole it has been relatively weak as governors lost power struggles at turns to state legislatures, other executive officials, and the federal government. Since about 1970, however, as the considerable legal restraints on their authority have been loosened, governors have steadily gained power and importance.

The Colonial Era

In the early seventeenth century, when the colonies were still owned by private charter companies, governors served primarily as corporate managers and were vested with only vague political authority. But as the Crown began to assert greater control over its possessions in America, governors were given an expanded role as the king's colonial proxies. By the middle of the eighteenth century only Connecticut and Rhode Island survived as charter colonies and they elected chief executives annually. The rest of the English territories were proprietary colonies or royal provinces, with governors who were either approved or appointed directly by the king.

On paper, proprietary and royal governors enjoyed broad powers over all the functions of colonial government. They were given the authority to appoint judges and other officials, veto legislation, and adjourn the assembly. Their political dominance, however, was greater in theory than in practice. Governors served at the pleasure of the king, who often tried to make day-to-day decisions about colonial administration. Moreover, colonial assemblies (like the English Parliament) were given the power of the purse, and they could wring significant concessions from uncooperative governors by withholding money and even refusing to pay their salaries. Governors grew increasingly vulnerable as the Revolution approached. As representatives of the Crown, they had to enforce the succession of unpopular laws, such as the Stamp and Coercive Acts, that would lead to war. In the mid-1770s, the colonists removed royal and proprietary governors from office and paved the way for the creation of independent state governments.

The Early Republic

The first state constitutions provided for strong legislatures and weak governors. The framers' recent experience with the Crown and its colonial representatives had convinced them that executive power led inevitably to despotism, whereas legislative power was impervious to tyranny because it was republican—that is, accountable to the people. Though rules differed in each state, in general governors were appointed to brief terms by a legislature that they could no longer summon or dissolve. Governors lacked veto power and could make decisions only with the advice and consent of an executive council chosen by the legislature. By and large, the first state constitutions envisioned governors who merely administered the laws passed by the assembly.

These early state governments, however, were so ineffectual and chaotic that the new Republic was forced to reconsider the rejection of executive power. Philadelphia's Constitutional Convention of 1787 created a presidential office with more independence and authority over national government than any governor had over state government (then or later). Gradually, the individual states tried to approximate the federal model, adopting new constitutions that vested executives with greater authority. For example, Illinois's first constitution, passed in 1818, provided for a popularly elected governor with four-year terms and significant appointment powers. New York's 1821 constitution granted the gubernatorial veto. Nevertheless, the office of governor remained comparatively powerless, and the persistent weakness of American governors can be traced to the precedent set in the early Republic.

The Jacksonian Era

In the 1830s and 1840s, a new political philosophy held that all white men, not just elite landowners, were the proper guardians of American democracy. In this view, voters mattered more than legislators, and the already aging model that gave assemblies authority over governors fell completely out of favor. Most states, reflecting the new importance placed on voters, wrote new constitutions that sought to free governors from legislative authority and make them directly accountable to the people.

In general, the new constitutions gave governors veto power and made the office an elected rather than appointed one. Both reforms validated governors' claims of authority. With a powerful weapon to use against the legislature and a popular mandate, the governors had gained political independence.

A third reform, however, significantly reduced governors' control over their own executive branch. In the spirit of popular democracy and suffrage for all white men, most states adopted some form of what became known as the long ballot, whereby voters selected a large number of state officers. For example, New York's 1846 constitution called for the election of not only the governor but also a lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, comptroller, attorney general, three canal commissioners, three prison inspectors, and a state engineer.

These elected executive officials claimed their own popular mandates, articulated their own political visions, worked to achieve their own objectives, and often belonged to their own party factions. Governors had little hope of putting together an efficient administration with a clear chain of command or a single set of goals. The problem only worsened as state governments grew more complex with the passage of time and the accretion of responsibilities. Progressive-Era administrations demonstrated a special fondness for proliferating bureaucracy. Illinois, for example, supported just twenty state agencies in 1850, but by 1925 that number had increased to more than 170. Governors found it nearly impossible to administer such sprawling organizations.

The Progressive Era

Government grew so rapidly during the Progressive Era (about 1890 to 1920, though historians continue to debate the dates) because Americans' faith in the power of government was exploding. Industrial society seemed to be spinning out of control, and Progressives turned to government to fix a host of problems from alcoholism and corruption to child labor and corporate monopoly. Despite the often-crippling hodgepodge of agencies, then, state executives were empowered to take aggressive action on a range of issues, and governors temporarily escaped their narrow spheres of influence.

Woodrow Wilson began his political career serving as governor of New Jersey from 1910 to 1912, and he pushed through several good-government measures. Hiram Johnson, California's governor from 1910 to 1917, passed the Public Utilities Act, giving an independent state commission the power to regulate the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad. Robert La Follette served as Wisconsin's governor from 1900 to 1906; he became the most renowned Progressive governor, and his state was regarded as a model for the rest of the nation. Wilson, Johnson, and La Follette achieved power earlier governors could only have imagined, and the reputation of state government in general improved. Future presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Franklin D. Roosevelt all gained prominence as governors during the first third of the twentieth century.

The Great Depression and States' Rights

When the Great Depression hit, however, the brief moment of gubernatorial power ended. States did not have the resources to cope with the huge demand for government services, and governors who still lacked coherent authority could not respond adequately to the crisis. During the New Deal, Washington, D.C., became firmly entrenched as the center of American government, and the foreign policy crises of World War II and the Cold War kept all eyes on national affairs. Governors again sunk into relative powerlessness and obscurity, and for thirty years after World War II no governor was elected president.

In the 1950s and 1960s, governors generally made news only in their embarrassing capacity as spokespeople for segregation and states' rights in the South. Southern senators and representatives urged their constituents to defy the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision that outlawed segregation in public education, but it fell to governors to implement the legal and political strategy of "massive resistance." Governors such as Orval Faubus of Arkansas, Ross Barnett of Mississippi, and George Wallace of Alabama symbolized southern racism and provincialism. But the governors' empty rhetoric of states' rights also forced the federal government to display its supremacy to the humiliation of the states.

In 1957, when Faubus refused to enforce a federal court order desegregating Central High School in Little Rock, President Dwight Eisenhower called in the army and troops remained on campus for the entire school year. Similarly, Wallace famously stood in a doorway at the University of Alabama to prevent the enrollment of black students, but he was forced to relent when federal marshals arrived.

The Modern Governor

In the 1960s, states finally addressed their collective governor crisis by reorganizing and consolidating executive administration. Between 1965 and 1975, forty states underwent at least a partial reorganization. Many states were unable to get rid of the long ballot that remains a favorite target of reformers, but they eliminated most of the other checks on their governors. States have consolidated and rationalized their labyrinthine bureaucracies, collapsing hundreds of agencies into dozens and placing them under accountable department heads. They have given governors the authority to make annual budgets, and almost all states have extended the term of office to four years and allow governors to serve at least two consecutive terms. Many experts argue that these changes have attracted more talented candidates and produced the innovative administrations that now serve as models for national government.

From 1976 until the end of the twentieth century, every president except George H. W. Bush had been a former governor. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush modeled their presidencies closely on their experiences as governors. It may still be too soon to conclude that American governors have finally emerged from ineffectiveness, but without question they are more powerful than ever before.

Bibliography

Black, Earl. Southern Governors and Civil Rights: Racial Segregation as a Campaign Issue in the Second Reconstruction. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1976.

Kallenbach, Joseph E. The American Chief Executive: The Presidency and the Governorship. New York: Harper and Row, 1966.

Lipson, Leslie. The American Governor: From Figurehead to Leader. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1939.

Osborne, David. Laboratories of Democracy: A New Breed of Governor Creates Models for National Growth. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1988.

Ransone, Coleman Bernard. The American Governorship. West-port, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982.

Sabato, Larry. Goodbye to Good-Time Charlie: The American Governor Transformed, 1950–1975. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1978.

Sanford, Terry. Storm over the States. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.

Columbia Encyclopedia: governor

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governor, chief executive of a dependent or component unit in a political system. In the United States, a governor is the chief executive of each state and is elected by the people of the state. In the British, French, and Dutch empires a governor was traditionally appointed to rule over each of the colonies. Governors in the United States originally lacked much power. They were often subordinate to the state legislatures and had little control over administrative agencies. However, political reforms in the early 20th cent. shifted power from the legislative to the executive branches of state governments, and today governors are among the most powerful political figures in the United States. At the National Governors Conference, developed from a meeting called (1908) by President Theodore Roosevelt, the nation's governors meet annually to discuss common political and governmental problems.

Word Tutor: governor

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IN BRIEF: A person appointed to head a province, territory or state.

She was the governor of the state for eight years.

Wikipedia: Governor

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For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation).

A governor (from French "gouverneur") is a governing official, usually the executive (at least nominally, to different degrees also politically and administratively) of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, a governor may be the title of each appointed or elected politician who governs a constituent state.

In some countries the heads of the constitutive states, provinces, communities and regions may be titled "governor," although this is less common in parliamentary systems such as in some European nations and many of their former colonies, which use titles such as President of the Regional Council in France and minister-president in Germany. Other countries using different titles for sub-national units include Spain and Switzerland.

The title also lies, historically, to executive officials acting as representatives of a chartered company which has been granted exercise of sovereignty in a colonial area, such as the British HEIC or the Dutch VOC. These companies operate as a major state within a state with its own armed forces.

There can also be non-political governors: high ranking officials in private or similar governance such as commercial and non-profit management, styled governor(s), who simply govern an institution, such as a corporation or a bank. For example, in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries there are prison governors ("warden" in the United States), school governors and bank governors.

The adjective pertaining to a governor is "gubernatorial", from the Latin root "gubernare".^[1]

1 Pre-Roman empires
2 Holy Roman/ Habsburg Empires and successor states
3 Turkish rule
4 British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations
- 4.1 Vice-Regal Governors
- 4.2 Elsewhere in the Commonwealth
5 Russia and former Soviet Union
6 Other modern Asian countries
7 Other Colonial empires
8 Other modern countries in North America
- 8.1 United States
- 8.2 Mexico
9 Other modern countries in South America
- 9.1 Brazil
10 Other European countries and empires
11 Other modern African countries
12 Modern equivalents
13 Other meanings of the word
14 See also
15 References

Pre-Roman empires

Though the legal and administrative framework of provinces, each administrated by a governor, was created by the Romans, the term governor has been a convenient term for historians to use in describing similar systems in antiquity. Indeed, many regions of the pre-Roman antiquity were ultimately replaced by Roman 'standardized' provincial governments after their conquest by Rome.

Egypt

In Pharaonic times, the governors of each of dozens of 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 Nomarch.
The whole (or most) of Egypt was repeatedly reduced to the status of province of a larger empire under foreign conquerors, notably under an Achaemenid satrap (see below).^{[citation needed]}

Pre- and Hellenistic satraps

Media and Achaemenid Persia introduced the satrapy, probably inspired by the Assyrian / Babylonian examples
Alexander the Great and equally Hellenistic diadoch kingdoms, mainly Seleucids (greater Syria) and Lagids ('Ptolemies' in Hellenistic Egypt)
in later Persia, again under Iranian dynasties:
- Parthia
- the Sassanid dynasty dispensed with the office after Shapur I (who had still 7 of them), replacing them with petty vassal rulers, known as shahdars

In ancient Rome

Main article: Roman Governor

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 a magistrate or judge, and the management of taxation and 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 (the consulate or praetorship) in Rome in the previous year, and carried related titles as governor (proconsul or propraetor). 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 governorships himself, delegating the actual task of administration to appointees (usually with the title legatus Augusti, although some small provinces received governors with other titles such as procurator). The infamous character of Pontius Pilate in the Christian Gospels is 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 governor sui generis styled Praefectus Augustalis (the very title evokes the religious cult of the Emperor).

Emperors Diocletian (see Tetrarchy) 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 into dioceses, and the dioceses in turn into four praetorian prefectures (originally each under a residing co-emperor);
Military responsibilities were removed from governors and given to new officials called comes rei militaris (the committal title was also granted to many court and civilian administrative positions) or dux, later also Magister militum.

The prestige governorships of Africa and Asia remained with the title proconsul, and the special right to refer matters directly to the Emperor; the Praefectus Augustalis in Alexandria and the Comes Orientis in Antioch also retained special titles. Otherwise the governors of provinces had various titles without obvious logic, some known as consularis, some as corrector, some as praeses. Apart from Egypt and the East (Oriens - viz greater Syria), each diocese was directed by a governor known as a vicarius. The prefectures were directed by praefecti praetorio (a role transformed from a very different one in the early Empire).

Byzantium

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, the Strategos a role leading the themes which replaced provinces at this point, and involving a return to the amalgamation of civil and military office which had been the practice under the Republic and the early Empire.

Legacy

While the Roman administration in the West was largely destroyed in the barbarian invasions, its model was remembered, and would again be very influential through two particular vehicles: Roman law and the Christian Church.

Holy Roman/ Habsburg Empires and successor states

Reichskommissar

Turkish rule

In the Ottoman empire, all Pashas (generals) administered a province of the Great Sultan's vast empire, with specific titles (such as Mutessaryf; Vali = Wali was often maintained or even revived in oriental successor states; cfr. Beilerbei (rendered as Governor-general, as he is appointed above several provinces under individual governors) and Dey)

British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations

Flag of the Governor of Hong Kong, 1959–1997

In the British Empire a governor was originally an official appointed by the British monarch (or in fact the cabinet) to oversee one of his colonies and was the (sometimes notional) head of the colonial administration. A governor's power could diminish as the colony gained more responsible government vested in such institutions as an Executive Council to help with the colony's administration, and in a further stage of self-government, Legislative Councils and/or Assemblies, in which the Governor often had a role.

Today crown colonies of the United Kingdom continue to be administered by a governor, who holds varying degrees of power. Because of the different constitutional histories of the former colonies of the United Kingdom, the term "Governor" now refers to officials with differing amounts of power.

Administrators, Commissioners and High Commissioners exercise similar powers to Governors. (Note: such High Commissioners are not to be confused with the High Commissioners who are the equivalent of Ambassadors between Commonwealth states).

Frequently the name 'Government House' is given to Governors' residences.

The term can also be used in a more generic sense, especially for compound titles which include it: Governor-General and Lieutenant-Governor.

Vice-Regal Governors

United Kingdom overseas territories

In the United Kingdom's remaining overseas territories the governor is normally a direct appointee of the British Government and plays an active role in governing and lawmaking (though usually with the advice of elected local representatives). The Governor's chief responsibility is for the Defence and External Affairs of the colony.

In some minor overseas territories, instead of a Governor, there is an Administrator or Commissioner, or the job is ex officio done by a High Commissioner.

Australia

Main article: Governors of the Australian states

In Australia, each state has the governor as its formal representative of the Queen as head of the state government. It is not a political office but a ceremonial office. Each state governor is appointed by the Queen of Australia on the advice of the Premier who is the political chief executive of the state government (until 1986, they were appointed by the Queen of the United Kingdom on the advice of the British Government). State Governors have emergency reserve powers but these are rarely used. The Territories of Australia other than the ACT have Administrators instead of governors, who are appointed formally by the Governor-General. The Governor-General is the representative of and appointed by the Queen of Australia at a federal level on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australia.

As with the Governors-General of Australia and other Commonwealth Realms, State Governors usually exercise their power only on the advice of a government minister.

Canada

In Canada, the federal governor is the Governor General of Canada and the vice-regals of each province is the Lieutenant-Governor. The Governor General is appointed by the Queen of Canada, who is head of state, on the advice of the Prime Minister, whereas the vice-regals are appointed by the Governor General of Canada with advice by the Prime Minister.

As for the three territories, they are headed by a Commissioner and are appointed by the Prime Minister. Unlike provincial lieutenant governor, they are not vice-regals nor appointed by the Governor General.

New Zealand

The Governor-General of New Zealand is always Governor of the Ross Dependency, an Antarctic sector which is claimed by the Realm of New Zealand.

Northern Ireland

There was a position of Governor of Northern Ireland from 1922 until the suspension of Stormont in 1973.

Elsewhere in the Commonwealth

India

In India each state has a ceremonial Governor appointed by the President 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 1949. See Governors of India & Indian Governors for more information. He is the head of the state.Generally,one Governor is appointed for each state,but after the 7th Constitutional Amendment,1956,a Governor can be appointed for more than one state

Malaysia

In Malaysia the four non-monarchical states -Penang, Malacca, and the two on Borneo: Sabah and Sarawak- each have a ceremonial Governor styled Yang di-Pertua Negeri, appointed by the federal King Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, with a seat but no vote in the federal majlis Raja-raja (council of rulers). These states have a separate head of government who is the Chief Minister or Ketua Menteri.

All other states have royalty as head of state, no governor: a raja in Perlis, a Yang di-pertuan besar (elected from local rulers) in Negeri Sembilan, or a Sultan in the states of Selangor, Pahang, Johore, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. These states have a separate head of government who is the Chief Executive or Menteri Besar, literally in Malay "Big Minister".

Nigeria

In Nigeria (once a colony governed by a single British Governor before independence), the leaders of the regions, which in 1967 were divided into states, have been known as governors since 1954. Following a military coup in November 1993, President Sani Abacha suspended all the governors, and appointed administrators. When democracy was restored in 1999, the office of governor was revived and new governors were elected. The president of Nigeria can suspend state governors in a state of emergency and replace them with administrators. They are elected by popular vote.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, each of the four provinces has a Governor who is appointed by the President.The governor is the representative of the president in their province and is the ceremonial head of the province whereas the chief minister is the head of the provincial government.The governor exercises powers similar to the president's, in their province respectively.

Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, the leaders of the provinces have been known as governors since August 1995. Previously they had been known as premiers.

Sri Lanka

The provincial councils of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka are headed by a governor, as representatives of the President. Prior to 1948, when Ceylon as Sri Lanka was known back then, the Governor of Ceylon was head of the British Colony

Russia and former Soviet Union

In the Russian Empire, Governorate (Guberniya) and Governorate-General were the main units of territorial and administrative subdivision since the reforms of Peter the Great. These were governed by a Governor and Governor-General respectively.

A special case was the Chinese Eastern Railroad Zone, which was governed as a concession granted by Imperial China to the Russian 'Chinese Eastern Railroad Society' (in Russian Obshchestvo Kitayskoy Vostochnoy Zheleznoy Dorogi; established in 17 December 1896 in St. Petersburg, later moved to Vladivostok), 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 Railroad (CER) across Manchuria was assumed by Russia (first under Priamur governor).

On 1 July 1903, the Chinese Eastern Railroad was opened and given authority of its own CER Administration (Russian: Upravleniye KVZhD), vested in the Directors of the Chinese Eastern Railroad, with the additional quality of Governors of the Chinese Eastern Railroad Zone (in Harbin; as such being 12 August 1903 - 1 July 1905 subordinated to the imperial Viceroyalty of the Far East, see Lüshunkou). The post continued to function despite various political changes until after World War II.

Currently, some of the administrative divisions 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, but since 2005 they have been appointed by the federal president and confirmed by the province's legislature.

Other modern Asian countries

Japan

In Japan,^[2] the title "Governor" (知事, chiji^?) refers to the highest ranking executive of a Prefectural Government. The Governor is elected by a direct vote from the people and had a fixed term of four years. He / she can be subjected to a recall referendum. In case of death, disability, or resignation, a government official known as Vice Governor would stand in as Governor or acting Governor.

See List of governors of Japan for a list of the current governors.

People's Republic of China

In the People's Republic of China, the title "Governor" (省长) refers to the highest ranking executive of a Provincial Government. The Governor is usually placed second in the provincial power hierarchy, below the Secretary of the provincial Communist Party of China (CPC) committee (省委书记), who serves as the highest ranking Party official in the Province. A Governor can be also used when referring to a County Governor (县长).

Philippines

In the Republic of the Philippines, the title "Governor" refers to the highest ranking executive of a Provincial Government. The Governor is elected by a direct vote from the people and had a fixed term of three years. An incumbent Governor can only serve only up to three consecutive terms. He may however be suspended by either the Ombudsman or President (through the Secretary of Interior and Local Government). He may be removed by the President if he was found guilty of an administrative case or a criminal act during his incumbency. He can be subjected by a recall vote, but unlike a referendum, people would elect the governor of their choice. If in case of death, disability, resignation, forced removal or suspension, a government official known as Vice Governor would replace as Governor or acting Governor.

In the Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao, a Regional Governor and Regional Vice Governor is elected by a block vote similar to the United States President.

Other Colonial empires

Other European naval powers than the UK with colonies in Asia, Africa and other areas, which sometimes chartered companies to rule the colonies instead, gave or still give some, but not always all, of the top representatives of (or rather in) their colonies the title of governor.

See:

Other modern countries in North America

United States

Main article: Governor (United States)

In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state or insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.

In colonial America, when the governor was the representative of the monarch who exercised executive power, many colonies originally indirectly elected their governors (that is, through assemblies and legislatures), but in the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, the Crown began to appoint them directly. During the American Revolution, all royal governors were expelled (except one; see Jonathan Trumbull) but the name was retained to denote the new elected official.

Before achieving statehood, many of the fifty states were territories. Administered by the federal government, they had governors who were appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate rather than elected by the resident population.

Mexico

Main article: List of Mexican state governors

In the United Mexican States, governor refers to the elected chief and head of each of the the nation's thirty one Free and Sovereign States, and their official title in Spanish is Gobernador. Eurasian governors are directly elected by the citizens of each state for six-year terms.

Other modern countries in South America

Many of the South American republics (such as Chile and Argentina) have provinces or states run by elected governors, with offices similar in nature to U.S. state governors.

Brazil

Until the 1930 Revolution, the heads of the Brazilian Provinces then States were styled Presidents (presidentes), later governors (governadores) and intervators (interventores, appointed by the federal government) and finally in 1945 only governors.

Other European countries and empires

Austria

A Landeshauptmann (German for "state captain", literally 'country headman'; plural Landeshauptleute or Landeshauptmänner as in Styria 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 presently used in federal Austria and a majority German-speaking province of Italy.

Benelux monarchies

In the Netherlands, the government-appointed heads of the provinces were known as Gouverneur from 1814 until 1850, when their title was changed to King's (or Queen's) Commissioner. In the southern province of Limburg, however, the commissioner is still informally called Governor.
In the Dutch crown's Caribbean Overseas territories, the style Governor is still used (alongside the political head of government) in the Netherlands Antilles as well as since 1986 on the neighbouring island of Aruba (separated from the former)
In Belgium, each of the ten provinces has a Governor, appointed by the regional government. He represents the central and regional governments in the province. He controls the local governments and is responsible for law and order, security and emergency action. The national capital of Brussels, who is not part of a province, also has a governor with nearly the same competences.

France

During the Ancien Régime in France, the representative of the king in his provinces and cities was the "gouverneur". Royal officers chosen from the highest nobility, 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 "lieutenants généraux" – also had the ability of convoking provincial parlements, provincial estates and municipal bodies. The title "gouverneur" first appeared under Charles 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 led Cardinal Richelieu to create the more tractable positions of intendants of finance, policing and justice, and in the 18th century the role of provincial governors was greatly curtailed.

Italy

The essentially maritime 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) or baile.
In today's Italy, the official name of a head of a Regione (the Italian subnational entity) is Presidente della Giunta regionale (President of the regional executive council), but since 2000, when a constitutional reform decided the direct election of the president by the people, it has been usual to call him governatore (governor).

Papal and Vatican particularity

In the various Italian provinces (former principalities and city-states) that became amalgamated as the Papal States, the Holy See exerted temporal power via its Legates and Delegates, including some Cardinals
Also in Avignon and the surrounding southern French Comtat Venaissin, the home of the Popes during their 'Babylonian exile', and retained centuries after, but never incorporated into the Papal 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 of Italian Republic. As it is too small to have further administrative territorial divisions, it is the equivalent of a Prime Minister, Governor and Mayor all roled in to one post, styled the Governor of Vatican City.

Other modern African countries

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (October 2007)

Modern equivalents

As a generic term, Governor is used for various 'equivalent' officers governing part of a state or empire, rendering other official titles such as:

colonial High Commissioner (not the Ambassadors exchanged within the Commonwealth)

And this also applies to non-western and/or antique cultures

Other meanings of the word

The word governor can also refer to an administrator and/or supervisor (individually or collectively, see Board of Governors) in the socio-economic spheres of life; the single Governor of a national emission bank often holds ministerial rank.

References

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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Misspellings: governor

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Common misspelling(s) of governor

gouvener
governer

Translations: Governor

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - guvernør, bestyrelsesmedlem, direktør, regulator

Nederlands (Dutch)
gouverneur, bestuurder, ouwe (vader/baas), meneer, regulateur

Français (French)
n. - (GB) gouverneur (d'une banque), directeur (d'une prison), membre du conseil d'établissement (d'une école), membre du conseil de l'université, membre du conseil d'administration (d'un hôpital), (GB) patron, (Ling) régissant, (Élec, Tech) régulateur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Gouverneur, Herrscher, Kommandant, Direktor, (Slang) Boß, (Slang) alter Herr

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κυβερνήτης, διοικητής (οργανισμού κ.λπ.), μέλος διοικούσας επιτροπής (σχολής κ.λπ.), (καθομ.) αφεντικό, πατέρας, γέρος

Italiano (Italian)
governatore

Português (Portuguese)
n. - governador (m)

Русский (Russian)
губернатор, правитель, начальник, член правления, регулирующее устройство

Español (Spanish)
n. - gobernador, director, administrador, jefe

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - styresman, guvernör, kommendant (i fästning), direktör, farsa (vard.), regulator (tekn.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
州长, 主管, 总督, 董事

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 州長, 主管, 總督, 董事

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 통치자, 이사, 관리자, 우두머리

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 知事, 総督, おやじ, 親方, 管理者, 総裁, 調速機, 統治者, 司令官, 長官, だんな

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الحاكم, المحافظ, رئيس مؤسسه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מושל, נגיד, בוס, אב, חבר הנהלה, מפקד בסיס צבאי או כלא, וסת מהירות במכונה‬

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
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		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
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	State Constitutions
	Gov. (abbreviation)
	Gray, Barry (Quotes By)

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	If a current Lt Governor has been Governor in the past is it correct to use the title Governor when addressing them?
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