Governor George Pataki

A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' may be either appointed or elected, and the governor's powers can vary significantly, depending on the public laws in place locally.
The adjective pertaining to a governor is gubernatorial, from the Latin root ''gubernare''.

Ancient empires

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 describe 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. Plato used the metaphor of turning the Ship of State with a rudder; the Latin word for rudder is gubernaculum.

Egypt

*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.

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 ''shahdar''s

Ancient Rome

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 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 (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 governorship himself, delegating the actual task of administration to appointees (usually with the title ''legatus Augusti''). The ''legatus'' sometimes would appoint a prefect (later procurator), usually a man of equestrian rank, to act as his deputy in a subregion of the larger province: the infamous character of Pontius Pilate in the Christian Gospels 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 governor ''sui generis'' styled '' praefectus augustalis'', a title evoking 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 comital title was also granted to many court and civilian administrative positions) or '' dux'', later also '' magister militum''.

The prestigious 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, some known as '' consularis'', some as '' corrector'', while others 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'' (greatly transformed in their functions from their role 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. It was a role leading the themes 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.

Legacy

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.

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 or Wāli which was often maintained and revived in the oriental successor states; Beilerbei (rendered as Governor-general, as he is appointed above several provinces under individual governors) and Dey)

British Empire and Commonwealth Realms

In the British Empire, a governor was originally an official appointed by the British monarch (or the cabinet) to oversee a crown 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 a Legislative Council or Legislative Assembly. The executive powers vested in the governor varied as well; while many colonies had an Executive 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 capaity, to fully-fledged parliamentary 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 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 position is held ''ex officio'' by a High Commissioner.

Australia

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 one. 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, state governors 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