Thus, the culture of the audit, which derived from firms, was gradually transferred to all areas of British public life and affected political parties, associations and charitable organizations alike (Power, 1997). While the government decentralized public service provision, and encouraged the participation of the voluntary sector in managing public services, it combined this decentralization with new quid pro quos. All sectors were henceforth subject to an assessment of their performance and procedures. The illusion of the total ‘inspectability’ of society betrayed the influence of the utilitarianism of the phi- losopher Jeremy Bentham. But the prolifera- tion of audits eroded trust in the professional ethic and sense of public service. Social con- trol of this kind contradicts the idea that everyone acts in good faith and destroys trust in the competence of social actors.
The audit has become natural in British society. Control is now present at all levels of social and political life. It transfers the man- agement of uncertainty, especially economic uncertainty, from political authorities to individuals. The constant invocation of indi- vidual responsibility, which is the quid pro quo of the logic of multiplying the choices offered to the citizen-consumer, aids the internalization of controls and the adoption of individualistic strategies that rupture exist- ing solidarities or loyalties. Summoned to take responsibility for the costs of their choices, individuals cannot be the counter-powers