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This thesis seeks to argue that governance is the primary concern of the human individuals and the collective societies in the Western liberal democracies. From the perspectives of governance, this project illustrates the subjective existence of peoples and their relations with one another, which include: the way we care of ourselves, relate to the other individuals, relate to the other societies and cultures, relate to the other sex´; and the exercises of political power, economic power, institutional power, expert power, technical power, cognitive power to govern the self and the others. This venture is an engagement that deploys Foucault and Habermas´s intellectual practices with the assistance of Hunt and Wickham, and Rose´s perspective on governance to construct A Communicative Agonistic Theory of Governance. Since the completion of this thesis, my view of communicative action and agonism has been constituted, while I still consider Foucault´s work important contribution to western intellectual capital, Habermas´ project must continue to reform agonistic practices through the ethos of Enlightenment: justice, reason, equality, and the rule of law.

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I am an independent scholar. PhD candidate sociology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada 2004 - 2008. MA, Sociology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, 2004. MA, Legal Studies - Political Science,Carleton University, Canada, 2002. BA, Law (Honours), Carleton, University, Ottawa, Canada, 2000.

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