A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a 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. In a federated state, the governor may serve as head of state and head 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.
Ancient empires
Pre-Roman empires
Though the legal and administrative framework of provinces, each administered 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.
Ancient 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 "nomarch," which was later used by historians. Similarly, the term "Haty-a" (governor, mayor, overseer of priests, or overseer of the god's house) was referenced in inscriptions found in tombs, including those of Ankhtifi and Djefaihapi. The Early Dynastic Period saw the establishment of the institution of nomarchs, who were first appointed by the pharaoh to guarantee allegiance, but by the late Old Kingdom, these positions had become hereditary, promoting regional autonomy that grew during the First Intermediate Period and weakened central authority.
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
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 capacity, 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
Australia
In Australia, 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 the Australian monarch on the advice of the premier, who is the political chief executive of the state government (until 1986, state governors were appointed by the British monarch 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 King of Australia sovereign 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.
British Hong Kong (1841–1997)
In the colonial period of Hong Kong, the governor was the representative of the sovereign from 1843, which was the year that the authorities and duties of the post were officially defined by the Hong Kong Letters Patent and the Royal Instructions, until the handover of Hong Kong to the PRC government in 1997. Each governor was appointed by the monarch and possessed significant powers such as the power of appointing lawmakers in the legislative council, the power to grant land, the power of veto over bills and motions, the power of pardon, etc. At the same time, the governor was also the head of the colonial cabinet, the chairman of the Executive Council, the president of the Legislative Council (until 1993), as well as the commander-in-chief of the British Forces in Hong Kong.
British 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.
Canada
In Canada, there are governors at the federal and provincial levels of government who, within their jurisdictions, act as representatives of the king of Canada, who is Canada's head of state. The federal governor is the governor general of Canada, and the governor of each province is the lieutenant governor. The governor general is appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime 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 a commissioner appointed by the federal Cabinet. Unlike provincial lieutenant governors, they are not representatives of the sovereign but rather are representatives of the federal government.
New Zealand
The governor-general of New Zealand is always the governor of the Ross Dependency, an Antarctic sector which is claimed by the Realm of New Zealand.
United Kingdom
Within the United Kingdom itself, there was a position of Governor of Northern Ireland from 1922 until the suspension of the devolved Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1973.
England
From the 16th century until 1995, there was a governor of the Isle of Wight, part of England. Since the reign of Henry VIII, the monarch has borne the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
Other colonial empires
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.
See:
Danish colonial empire
Dutch Empire
Empire of Japan
French colonial empire
German colonial empire