AN ADAPTIVE-LEARNING APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION

This conceptual piece reviews the muddle in reform thinking in environmental regulation. It suggests that rhetoric and relief posturing will not lead to an improvement in regulatory performance, and various market mechanisms, while promising, are ill-suited to current organizational processes. Authentic reform efforts, it contends, should place greater reliance upon an adaptive learning approach to environmental policy development and implementation. Conceptual elements of such an approach are sketched out.     

NETWORKING TO ACHIEVE ALTERNATIVE REGULATION:

Two national estuary programs in Florida, the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBNEP) and the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program (TBNEP) are used to study the intricacies of implementation networks. Both programs are forms of alternative regulation and share similar attributes: an absence of a regulatory authority, exchange relationships based on equitable partnerships and an expected net aggregate benefit. Yet they arrive at two very different solutions. The results raise questions regarding the nature, scope and functioning of implementation networks. They also indicate that building networks is shaped by members' expectations and perceptions, and the degree of congruency they share with each other and the role of champions.     

AN APPROACH TO THE POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY OF THE WELSH NATIONALIST MOVEMENT

Abstract The character and ideology of the Welsh nationalist movement have changed drastically since the founding of an independent party in 1925. This paper seeks to utilize a developmental typology in analyzing data obtained from interviews with nationalist activists in examining such changes. In this way, it is possible to understand how Welsh language militants, 'respectable' cultural nationalists, middle-of-the road party workers from rural Wales, and south Wales radicals coexist and cooperate within the fabric of organized nationalism. The investigation of the social dynamics of the movement renders comprehensible both the causes of internal organizational strength and the electoral difficulties facing Plaid Cymru.     

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS: THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION EXPERIENCE

Evaluation of consumer protection regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission is a formal, ongoing activity employing a wide variety of commonly accepted research designs. This paper describes the variety of evaluation designs and gives examples of the application of these designs in assessing the impact of FTC Trade Rules in the marketplace. The authors also consider the future of consumer protection evaluation in an environment of severe budget constraints.     

POLITICS AND REGULATION: THE PUBLIC CHOICE APPROACH

Abstract: Government regulation of the economy has been the subject of criticism both on the grounds of efficiency and equity. Traditional economic theories explaining regulation may be deficient insofar as they assume a benevolent welfare maximizing government, intervening only to correct "market failures". Political theories of interest group influence (for example pluralist, capture, Marxist theories) provide some more realistic insights into regulation, but fail to yield rigorous, testable propositions. The theory of public choice applies the rigour of economic analysis to political behaviour and suggests some useful approaches to the explanation of regulation, focusing on the public goods problem of organizing large groups of actors for collective action and on the role of the political entrepreneur in mobilizing large numbers of voters. The public choice approach may also be useful in suggesting strategies for deregulation in some key areas of the Australian economy currently under scrutiny (for example banking, airlines, telecommunications).     

CONSUMER PROTECTION, EDUCATION AND INFORMATION: A CONSUMER INCENTIVES PERSPECTIVE

Research evidence concerning product characteristics, consumer characteristics and product purchase situations is examined. Assumptions underlying consumer policy strategies directed at enhancing the ability of consumers to protect themselves and those strategies aimed at product quality control are analyzed in light of the evidence. Alternative policy strategies are analyzed for consumer incentives and with respect to product characteristics, consumer characteristics and product purchase situations. Recommendations regarding consumer protection policy strategies and for research concerning alternative policy strategies are provided. Illustrative policy strategies are included.     

THE COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF AGENDA SETTING: THE EMERGENCE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION AS A PUBLIC POLICY ISSUE IN BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES

This article compares the emergence of consumer protection as an issue on the public policy agendas of Britain and the United States in the 1960s. Similar forces caused the emergence of consumer protection in both cases. Governmental responses to consumer protection issues also have been similar, but distinctive features of each country's political system are evident as well. The analysis draws upon existing consumer protection literature for each country as well as the author's interviews with a number of Britons involved in this policy area. The principal conclusion is that consumer protection gained each country's policy agenda as a discretionary item. Events of the past few years demonstrate that it is not yet a durable agenda item in either case.     

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO POLICY TRANSER AND DIFFUSION

This article reviews the existing literature on policy transfer and diffusion and offers a more integrated theory for examining the spreading of policy. Typical studies have treated each as separate, yet they are similar in many respects. For example, both involve many of the same agents and processes involved in the spreading of policy. This article integrates the two literatures by developing a theoretical continuum upon which varying degrees of policy diffusion occur.