The article examines Bentham's views on "publicity" and compares his strategy to regulate the behavior of Members of Parliament with his strategy to regulate the behavior of prisoners. It shows the disciplinary power exerted by a continuously present gaze of the public: the public plays the role of a judge in a prison as well as in a political assembly. Publicity as a system of transparency makes the governors accountable and the governed confident. Transparency of power assures the realization of the utilitarian principle of "the greatest happiness of the greatest number". While the ideal mechanism of governing in the past was secrecy, Bentham's ideal mechanism of governing is one of exposure to the public.
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