A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...

over an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

political entity A polity is an identifiable political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any other group of p ...

. The most formal is a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken

geopolitical Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...

system (such as a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

) by establishing

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

s. Other types of governing include an organization (such as a

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

recognized as a legal entity by a government), a socio-political group (chiefdom, tribe, family, religious denomination, etc.), or another, informal group of people. In business and

outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

relationships,

governance frameworks Governance frameworks are the structure of a government and reflect the interrelated relationships, factors, and other influences upon the institution. ''Governance structure'' is often used interchangeably with ''governance framework'' as they bot ...

are built into

relational contract Relational may refer to: Business * Relational capital, the value inherent in a company's relationships with its customers, vendors, and other important constituencies * Relational contract, a contract whose effect is based upon a relationship of ...

s that foster long-term collaboration and innovation. A

board of governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

is often the governing body of a public institution, while a

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

typically serves as the governing body of a corporation or other company larger or more complex than a partnership. Many professional sports have a

sports governing body A sports governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sports governing bodies come in various forms and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule i ...

that serves as their regulating authority. Governing bodies can vary widely in size, which is "important not only for acquiring the necessary range of skills to oversee the entity, but also in promoting cohesion, flexibility, and effective participation of the members to achieve their governance objectives". A governing body is only one component of a system of governance, which also requires a written framework under which the body must operate, and governance mechanisms to both carry out directives of the governing body, and to report information back to the governing body.

Examples

Examples of governing bodies include: board of director and owners.

Education

*The

school governing body In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions: *Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction *Holding the headteacher to account for the ...

of a school, particularly in Commonwealth areas *

Board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

, the governing body of a school or higher administrative level * University Court, the governing body of a university in Scotland

Religion

*The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, the ruling council of Jehovah's Witnesses *Governing Bodies of the

Conference of European Churches The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions. In its commitment to Europe as a who ...

Sport

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, governing body of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

among others. * *

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

, governing body of

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

References

{{reflist Governance