In the five years since the outbreak of one of the worst global financial crises, systemic risk has become a buzzword and developed into an acute threat. But what exactly is this concept, and ought it to be considered an economic or a political phenomenon? This volume draws upon political economy as an approach to analyze the concept of systemic risk as well as corresponding dilemmas of political order, legitimacy, and expertise. The resulting discussion posits major consequences for the political governance of financial systems in the increasingly interconnected world of the twenty-first century.