Concept and background
Power (1997) analysed the audit explosion in 1980s–90s Britain. As New Public Management (Hood, 1991) replaced direct control with measuring and checking performance, audit and evaluation became central to governing, in step with the risk-management culture of the risk society.
Rituals of verification
Power argued audit often produces comfort that things were checked rather than real improvement: a ritual of verification. Organisations are reshaped to be auditable and generate paperwork to pass audits. Power (2003) analysed how audit produces legitimacy, and Power (2000) refined the theory. Indicator management also spread through tools like the balanced scorecard.
Side effects and spread
Strathern (1997) noted in university audit that when a measure becomes a target it ceases to be a good measure. Bevan and Hood (2006) documented gaming of waiting-time targets in English health care. Audit can also serve blame avoidance. Shore and Wright (2015) traced its expansion into rankings and ratings.
FAQ
- What is the audit society in simple terms?
- A society where schools, hospitals and governments must constantly prove their work through audits, evaluations and indicators.
- What is wrong with lots of auditing?
- Effort shifts to paperwork and hitting numbers rather than real improvement, and gaming can follow.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Power, M. (1997). The audit society: Rituals of verification. Oxford University Press. The founding book on the audit society.
- Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons? Public Administration, 69(1), 3–19. The classic account of New Public Management.
- Strathern, M. (1997). 'Improving ratings': Audit in the British university system. European Review, 5(3), 305–321. Audit in British universities and the target problem.
- Power, M. (2000). The audit society—Second thoughts. International Journal of Auditing, 4(1), 111–119. Power's own reflections and refinements.
- Power, M. (2003). Auditing and the production of legitimacy. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 28(4), 379–394. How auditing produces legitimacy.
- Bevan, G., & Hood, C. (2006). What's measured is what matters: Targets and gaming in the English public health care system. Public Administration, 84(3), 517–538. Targets and gaming in English health care.
- Shore, C., & Wright, S. (2015). Audit culture revisited: Rankings, ratings, and the reassembling of society. Current Anthropology, 56(3), 421–444. Audit culture extended to rankings and ratings.