In the wake of the crisis (not only of the financial processes but also of the political system of representation and of welfare), the question of constituency interpellates the relation between society and institutions, between social life and governance. For this reason, the frame of the question changes if compared to the debates around publics and audiences in the late 20th century, and goes beyond the debate about how to transform cultural institutions. At stake today is the possibility of reinventing public institutions but also, the risk of them disappearing. On the one hand, there is a cannibalism of neoliberalisation over the social organisation of mutuality and solidarity, on the other hand, the rising anthropophagy from below in the ruins of the welfare state. My contribution will gather reflections around "competence", "responsibility", "autonomy" as crucial questions for the radical imagination (and institutional invention) of new politics of care.