VII. A Web of Interconnections ↑
56. Large and complex groups require some forms of governance.
My New Oxford American Dictionary providess these definitions.
- governance
- the action or manner of governing.
- governing
- having authority to conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of a state, organization, or people.
So while humans tend to prefer autonomy, large groups are often governed by smaller groups, and sometimes individuals, with the dedicated role of managing the affairs of the group at large, often including (but not limited to):
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Establishment and enforcement of social norms;
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Taxation, or tithing, or solicitation of donations;
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Management of pooled resources;
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Protection of the group as a whole from attack or encroachment by other groups which may be engaged in competition for scarce resources;
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Maintenance of the institutions of governance themselves.
Note that the problems of governance are often difficult, and require application of critical thinking.
Words from Others on this Topic
The higher up you go in politics – but I think this is true of any organization – the more you will be confronted with challenges, problems, issues that do not yield a perfect answer.
Barack Obama, 07 Dec 2020, from the podcast “Dare to Lead Interview with Barack Obama”
Every Body cries, a Union is absolutely necessary, but when they come to the Manner and Form of the Union, their weak Noddles are perfectly distracted.
Benjamin Franklin, 1754, from the book The Writings of Benjamin Franklin
The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.
For they have no conception of the duty of government who wish to limit it to the settling of disputes over money or the punishment of criminals. On the contrary, it is much more important for the magistrates to devote their energy to the producing of good citizens than to the punishment and restraint of evildoers. How much less need would there be to punish, if these matters were rightly looked after beforehand!
Juan Louis Vives, 1526, from the book Concerning the Relief of the Poor
Government has a final responsibility for the well-being of its citizenship. If private cooperative endeavor fails to provide work for willing hands and relief for the unfortunate, those suffering hardship from no fault of their own have a right to call upon the Government for aid; and a government worthy of its name must make fitting response
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 03 Jan 1938, from the speech “State of the Union 1938”
The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves – in their separate, and individual capacities. In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere. The desirable things which the individuals of a people can not do, or can not well do, for themselves, fall into two classes: those which have relation to wrongs, and those which have not. Each of these branch off into an infinite variety of subdivisions. The first – that in relation to wrongs – embraces all crimes, misdemeanors, and nonperformance of contracts. The other embraces all which, in its nature, and without wrong, requires combined action, as public roads and highways, public schools, charities, pauperism, orphanage, estates of the deceased, and the machinery of government itself.
Abraham Lincoln, 1854, from the article “Fragment on Government”
The most powerful learning comes from direct experience. But what happens when we can no longer observe the consequences of our actions? Herein lies the core learning dilemma that confronts organizations: we learn best from experience but we never directly experience the consequences of many of our most important decisions. The most critical decisions made in organizations have systemwide consequences that stretch over years or decades.
Peter Senge, 1990, from the book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization