Britain now has the most heavily regulated higher education system in the world and institutions must deliver best education value. Quality assurance, used to ensure that funds are correctly spent, is now a central mechanism for standardisation. This book explores the political and psychic economy of quality assurance in higher education and interrogates the discourse and practices associated with the audit culture in Britain. It raises important questions about the political pre-conditions that have enabled quality assurance to develop to such a powerful extent. Using a sociological framework, Louise Morley examines how regimes of power are experiences micropolitically in the academy. She subjects key concepts, including accountability, autonomy and continuous improvement, to critical scrutiny. This is a timely and thought-provoking analysis of an issue that affects all those who work in higher education.