3 - Regulatory instruments and techniques

Summary

Introduction

One of the core concerns of the previous chapter involved attempts to explain why regulation emerges. In this chapter, we turn away from considering attempts to explain regulation, towards questions of mechanics, in responding to questions concerning how to regulate. In so doing, we will assume that the collective goals of a regulatory regime have been identified and defer consideration to whether those goals may be regarded as legitimate to the discussion in Chapter 5. By turning our attention to the mechanics of control, the scope of this academic inquiry may seem more concrete and less abstract than the previous chapter's discussion of theories of regulation. Yet the ground may not be quite as firm as it initially appears, for, as we shall see, the literature in this field is rich and fertile, having been ploughed by scholars from a range of social scientific disciplines and sub-disciplines, including law, economics, public administration, public policy, comparative government and self-confessed ‘regulationists’. Despite the breadth of its variation, this literature is united by a common enterprise: to understand and explore the instruments and techniques by and through which social behaviour may be regulated, and the relationship between those techniques and their context.

Our discussion begins by exploring the wide array of tools and techniques that are used in regulating social behaviour in order to acquire an understanding of their mechanics. This exploration proceeds by classifying instruments into broad categories, based upon their underlying technique or ‘modality’ of control.