This book is the first systematic exploration of audit as a principle of social organization and control. The author critically examines the reasons, means, and consequences of this audit explosion. He raises important questions about the efficacy of audit processes, suggests that the consequences of this must be evaluated, and contrasts these theories and practices of Trust. "Michael Power's The Audit Society is an intriguing exploration of the dynamics of public control over business through one particular instrument of regulation, auditing. ... All in all, Power's account is thought-provoking"-- Comparative Politics Michael Power is Professor of Accounting at the LSE, and has been a Lecturer in Accounting and Finance there since 1987. He has also worked as a financial auditor with Deloitte Haskins and Sells where he qualified as a chartered accountant and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He has also been a fellow of the Wissenschaftskolley zu Berlin . In 1989 he was made an associate member of the United Kingdom of Institute of Taxation and, from 1990, an associate scholar of the European Institute of Advanced Studies in Management, Brussels.