Regulation : The Social Control of Business Between Law and Politics

Regulation results from industrialization, which greatly increased the hazards to which populations are subject and, with mass democracy, enhanced the capacity of populations to demand protection. With the rise of the consumer society and economy, workers and consumers now press for public regulation of matters that in the past have been regulated largely privately by business itself, through trade and industry associations, cartels and by the professions. The state is now pressed to intervene and often to act as guarantor, and in doing so has been attacked by the 'new right' as unduly restrictive and as imposing unnecessary burdens on business. The book maps the reality of regulation, seen as a constantly developing range of institutions, public and private, and identifies what is required for regulation to be effective. It pulls together studies on the functioning of regulation in many areas of business, drawing on international scholarship in sociology, political science, law and economics. Front Matter....Pages i-vi Introduction....Pages 1-11 The Rise of the Regulatory Society....Pages 12-37 Private Regulation: from the Acceptable to the Unacceptable Face of Capitalism....Pages 38-73 The Professions....Pages 74-106 State Regulation: Achieving Ascendancy....Pages 107-135 Compliance and Enforcement....Pages 136-161 Ineffective Regulation....Pages 162-191 International Regulation....Pages 192-224 The Future of Regulation....Pages 225-234 Back Matter....Pages 235-249 Regulation has been stimulated by industrialisation and particularly by the advent of the consumer economy. This book draws on international scholarship in sociology, political science, law and economics on the working and regulation, both in public and private, in many areas of business to map the reality of regulation, and to identify why it sometimes fails and how it can succeed. "The book maps the reality of regulation, seen as a constantly developing range of institutions, public and private, and identifies what is required for regulation to be effective. It pulls together studies on the functioning of regulation in many areas of business, drawing on international scholarship in sociology, political science, law and economics."--Jacket