This focus then influenced developments in the United States; attention to this tradition opens up questions for contemporary practices.Keywords: governmentality; religion; social practice; Foucault; pastoral power Those examining the centrality of conceptions of accountability in contemporary society have drawn on the later work of Foucault's career, especially as outlined in the publication of his lectures (Millar and Rose, 2008;Mennicken and Miller, 2014). A key theme he developed was that of "governmentality", the means by which mass populations came to be governed. In doing so, he drew attention to the importance of examining particular practices of accountability. In sketching these, Foucault drew in particular on the notion of "pastoral power", arguing that specific practices within Christianity were of importance in providing templates for governing conduct in other spheres (Foucault, 2009: 123). Notably, he paid particular and detailed attention to the rite of confession, tracing how this entailed the development of particular artefacts, such as the confessional box, and the formulation of