Despite three decade of vigorous efforts at deregulation across all levels of government, regulation remains ubiquitous. It is disliked because it is unavoidably coercive: it forces individuals and businesses to do things - frequently costly and unpleasant things - that they don't want to. But few would argue that modern government can do without some recourse to the stick, irrespective of the popular appeal of the carrot. If regulatory programmes are to survive and remain effective, a central challenge is their endemic unpopularity and the political vulnerability that follows from it. Unlike much of the existing literature on regulation, this book begins with the assumption that the government's capacity to utilize regulation as a policy tool is important. The book examines the questions of how to make the inherently coercive aspects of regulation more politically acceptable in an anti-regulatory environment and how the legal and administrative challenges of reform in ongoing regulatory programmes might best be approached.
Robert T. Nakamura is a professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy of the State University of New York at Albany. His research has focused on environmental policy and policy implementation. Along with Thomas W. Church, he is the coauthor of the first comprehensive study of the operation of the Superfund program, Cleaning Up the Mess(Brookings, 1993). Thomas W. Church is a professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy of the State University of New York at Albany. He has published published extensively on environmental policy, court reform, and the nexus of law and policy.
"Superfund proves to be a useful case study in which to explore critical questions regarding regulatory reform.... At a time when few scholars appear concerned with investigating regulatory practices, TAMING REGULATION makes an important contribution to regulation and environmental policy studies by investigating ways in which the uses of regulatory power can be made politically and practically acceptable. This book is a must read for individuals and policy-makers considering regulatory reform. It is also recommended for students interested in regulatory history and policy. It should not be overlooked by those interested in environmental policy and the phenomenon of Superfund." -Denise DeGarmo, Depart. of Political Science, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, The Law and Politics Book Review, 11/1/2004
