Regulatory policy

a literature review

Abstract

This article discusses the international literature on regulatory policy, identifying the cen tral issues on lhe respective research agenda. The text discusses the independent regula­tory agencies and their international dissemination, as well as recent deregulation and re­regulation processes. The literature review examines the so-called normative and positive theories and neo-institutionalist analyses concerning the logic of delegating power to inde­pendent agents as well as the so-called commitment problem in regulation. The article concludes that the literature produced by political scientists is still quite limited, and that the discussion of accountability in regulatory agencies constitutes a gap in the research agenda.