One always governs too much"~or at least, one should always suspect that one governs too much. Govenimentality shouldnot be exercised without a "critique" far more radical than a test of optimization. It should not only question itself about the best ( or least costly) means for achieving its effects, but also about the possibility and even legitimacy of its project for achieving effects. The question behind the suspicion that there is·always tue riskofgoveming too much is: Why, after all, is it necessary to govern?

Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics, loc. 1591