Freedom and Constraint Under the 'Neo-Liberal' Regime of Choice

Abstract

This growth of administration reflected the spirit of utilitarianism. Bentham's fabulous Panopticon, his most personal utopia, was a star-shaped building from the center of which prison wardens could keep the greatest number of jailbirds under the most effective supervision at the smallest cost to the public. Similarly, in the utilitarian state his favorite principle of 'inspectability' ensured that the Minister at the top should keep effective control over all local administration. The road to the free market was opened and kept open by an enormous increase in continuous, centrally organized and controlled interventionism.