[The political project and governance capacities].

This article presents a theoretical overview of personal and institutional governance capacities (experience, leadership and knowledge on the individual level, and organizational capital available on the institutional level) and their relationship to politics and policies in the Latin American context. Using the theoretical production of Carlos Matus regarding the act of governing, diverse dimensions of this problem are put into discussion in relation to other authors and experiences in different historical moments. Theories, methods and techniques of government are explored and the need for state reform with an internal logic is analyzed. It is concluded that there is a need to build a theory for the practice of governing/managing public organizations, and this construction requires creative actions that use theory as a toolbox.