"..and it called for a ramification of power."

        Not surprisingly, panopticism renders a good deal of society powerless and incapable of resisting now codified power structures.  As a social theory, it suggests that in order to maximize the power of punishment, prison's ought not adopt the "hiddenness" aspect of dungeon theory.  Instead, prisoners (as well as patients and schoolchildren) should be subject to full lighting, which is contrary to the "ultimately protected" cover of darkness, in order that they may be trapped. 

        He posits that this formulation of discipline "assures the automatic functioning of power." In typical Foucault fashion, he sets up a dominant power structure that will be perpetuated throughout society and is nearly impossible to esacape. He writes, "the disciplines provide, at the base, a guarantee of the submission of forces and bodies."  The forced submission is much more than mere subservience; the "disciplining" of subjects has less to do with discipline and much more to do with the forced conformity to some sort of social norm. And in his argument to the benefits of the seperation of society into natural categorizations (i.e. normal/abnormal) as opposed to complete isolationism, Foucault really seems to be arguing for a certain discipline that makes the "abnormal" normal and politely returns them to society.

       I share in Jeremy Bentham's surprise at this mindless societal resignation to fate, "there were no more bars, no more chains, no more heavy locks; all that was needed was that the seperations should be clear and the openings well arranged." On a similar note, I am still a bit surprised at the frequency of Bentham's name in this paper; Bentham's work on utilitarianism seems a bit contrary at best and antithetical at worst to the ideas of Michel Foucault.  With an understanding of how comprehensive Bentham's utilitarian calculus was, one that prevented the sacrifice of a few for the good of many, I can scarcely imagine his endorsment of an extension of his idea for an institution, the panopticon, to a theory on how society might be ordered to perpetuate oppressive power structures and force submission by citizens.