ased on concrete examples this paper discusses different understandings of the concept "governance" and summerizes ten years of a research program aimed at giving it a rigorous definition and method. It asks the question if the concept can be used in serious research, as there has been very little improvement in its definition. The answer given here is both pessimistic and optimistic. Maybe it is time to call the death of governance as a scientific term, victim of techno-management fashion. Can it still be saved?