An Advancement in an Accounting Technology as an Aid to Shaping a Governable Domain

Abstract

In this study we examine the introduction of an accounting technology in the Province of Canada, namely reporting gross revenues and expenditures in the Public Accounts. We situate this technology within the broader societal arena of British North America and the political turmoil of Upper and Lower Canada. Drawing on insights from Foucault’s governmentality we argue that this technology was an essential apparatus in the art of government that arose from and contributed to the move from colonial sovereign rule to responsible government. This contributes to our understanding of the constitutive role of accounting and the role of accounting in government by presenting a case showing its role in the construction of a governable domain. This understanding is complementary to previous Foucauldian interpretations whose focus is on the government governing the population. We argue that accounting facilitates government by empowering the population and through this, the population becomes governable. As a mechanism of control and accountability, it served to empower the population. Studying the development of accounting technologies in the Province of Canada provides an important opportunity to enhance our understanding of the role of accounting in shaping governable domains and the development of public sector accounting techniques through the emergence of responsible government in a former colony of the British Empire.