Politics of Regulatory Change: A Tale of Two Agencies - Hardcover

Harris, Richard A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195057325 ISBN 13: 9780195057324

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, 1989

Synopsis

The past two decades have seen remarkable change in American regulatory politics. In the 1960s and 1970s, the activities of public interest movements prompted a dramatic and far-reaching expansion in the government's role as protector of public health, the consumer and the environment. Conversely, the Reagan era saw a backlash reaction against tight social and economic regulation, spearheaded by the Reagan Administration. This book is a unique study of two of the most influential regulatory agencies, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which together represent a broad cross-section of regulatory bodies as a whole. The authors assess the long term consequences of the Reagan Administration's attempts to reduce social regulation, and outline the difficulties encountered on the path to reform caused by the remarkable resilience of established regulatory policies.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The past three decades have brought remarkable change in American regulatory politics. The re-emergence of public interest movements in the sixties and seventies raised fundamental questions about our market economy and dramatically expanded the government's regulatory role in the protection of public health, the consumer, and the environment. The far-reaching effects of this new regulatory regime in turn precipitated a counter-movement to restrict social and economic regulation spearheaded by the Reagan administration. In their first edition of The Politics of Regulatory Change. Richard Harris and Sidney Milkis assessed the long-term consequences of the Reagan administration's attempt to drastically curtail social regulation through an in-depth study of how two of the most influential regulatory agencies, the Federal Trade Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency, were affected by administration reforms. Now with their second edition, Harris and Milkis continue their assessment, creating completely revised edition that includes coverage of the changes in regulatory politics during the Bush and Clinton administrations. They conclude that the essential elements of the 'public lobby regime' remain intact, even as the successive deregulatory assaults on that regime in the 1980's and 1990's have polarized Washington not simply over public policy but more fundamentally over the just ends of the American political system.

About the Author

Richard A. Harris is Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, Camden.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195057325
• ISBN 13: 9780195057324
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 344