ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses developments in medical governance in relation to two key 'schools of thought' concerned with the analysis of risk in today's society—respectively, the 'risk society' and the 'governmentality' perspectives. It seeks to achieve two interrelated goals by highlighting points of agreement between the risk society and governmentality perspectives. The chapter explains the importance of paying close attention to the type of subject-citizen promoted by 'liberal mentalities of rule' as they seek to minimize risks threatening the wealth, health, happiness and security of the population. It aims to establish areas for empirical investigation in relation to medical governance. For in spite of repeated calls for investigation into doctors' training and regulatory arrangement, little empirical research has been published on this topic. An ever-growing series of high-profile malpractice cases—such as the general practitioner Harold Shipman who murdered over 215 of his patients—have reinforced to sociologists the need to advocate the adoption of more open, transparent and publicly accountable governing regimes.
