In this chapter, I make a case for governance as the most important element of an ECE system by examining the strengths of governance, focusing on consolidated governance in particular. This argument is predicated on the results of a qualitative study that examined the approaches to governance adopted by Pennsylvania and Massachusetts (Gomez, 2014). The results from this study suggest that consolidated governance can yield enhanced capacity to develop the other seven system elements, ultimately leading to a more coherent and functional ECE system. I highlight the unique strengths of consolidated approaches to governance for bringing coherence to ECE systems by analyzing these approaches to governance through the lens of a theoretical framework-complex adaptive systems theory which illustrates how and why consolidated approaches are uniquely suited to managing ECE systems. (author abstract)