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Full-Text Articles in Law and Politics
Introduction To Regulation And Regulatory Processes, Cary Coglianese, Robert Kagan
Introduction To Regulation And Regulatory Processes, Cary Coglianese, Robert Kagan
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Regulation of business activity is nearly as old as law itself. In the last century, though, the use of regulation by modern governments has grown markedly in both volume and significance, to the point where nearly every facet of today’s economy is subject to some form of regulation. When successful, regulation can deliver important benefits to society; however, regulation can also impose undue costs on the economy and, when designed or implemented poorly, fail to meet public needs at all. Given the importance of sound regulation to society, its study by scholars of law and social science is also of …
Weak Democracy, Strong Information: The Role Of Information Technology In The Rulemaking Process, Cary Coglianese
Weak Democracy, Strong Information: The Role Of Information Technology In The Rulemaking Process, Cary Coglianese
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Techno-optimists advocate the application of information technology to the rulemaking process as a means of advancing strong democracy -- that is, direct, broad-based citizen involvement in regulatory policy making. In this paper, I show that such optimism is unfounded given the obstacles to meaningful citizen deliberation posed by the impenetrability of current e-rulemaking developments, the prevailing level of citizen disengagement from politics and policy making more generally, and most citizens’ lack of the requisite technical information about and understanding of the issues at stake in regulatory decision making. As such, a more realistic goal for the application of new technology …