Until recently governance concerns were perceived to be about the future. One could argue that 2018 was the year in which governance processes gained focus from the crypto community. As the industry matured projects found themselves having to address difficult governance issues. The governance-by-default approach of Bitcoin and Ethereum was put to the test. The realization kicked in that forking comes with high price to the community and network. New protocols like EOS and Tezos emerged which are on-chain systems with governance-by-design. These protocols showed their own set of problems like signs of collusion and manipulation. With growing interest of major financial institutions the importance of governance is evident. Clients of the institutions are more risk-averse than the current crypto players so clarity on governance is a key to gain confidence. Governance debates are heating up and will take blockchain systems to the next level.
For further reading the following articles are recommended:
https://medium.com/amentum/blockchain-communities-and-their-emergent-governance-cfe5627dcf52
https://www.tokendaily.co/blog/the-growing-focus-on-blockchain-governance
https://medium.com/cryptolawreview/the-wood-zamfir-governance-debates-80e92436a457