ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to show how new self-governance imagery has obtained a hegemonic position. It focuses on how theoretical insights and public governance reform initiatives mutually influence each other in a complex process. After arguing that both Niklas Luhmann's and Foucault's analyses are best understood as histories of the emergence of modern forms of societies and governing. The book accounts for the ways in which Luhmann and Foucault address the issue of self-governance and the governing of others. In terms of policy areas, the case studies include education, public health, employment and crime prevention, community development, public management and business policy. These policy areas have been selected in order to show that the politics of self-governance sets its marks on many if not all areas of public governance ranging from service delivery over process regulation to authoritative rule.
