Law and Regulation

Course Code: PUBLG048

Course Tutor: Dr Colin Provost (Department of Political Science)

Assessment: One 3,000 word essay

Credit Value: 15

About this course

In this course, we will be examining the political, economic, social and legal issues surrounding the enactment, implementation and enforcement of regulatory policy.  We will begin by discussing various justifications for regulation, with particular focus on the market failure framework and then look at how regulatory authority is delegated, as well as how it is enforced.  In addition to domestic settings, we will also look at the regulation of transnational business and at how international standards are negotiated.  Finally, we will examine regulatory reforms, such as privatization and regulatory impact analysis, in the developed and developing world. These concepts will apply to a variety of issues, such as consumer protection, antitrust (competition law), utilities, environmental policy, financial policy, and health and safety.

Some of the questions we will address include:

• How much influence do businesses have over the creation and implementation of regulations?
• What is the thinking behind cap and trade programs like the E.U. Emissions Trading System? Do such programs work?
• Who is to blame for regulatory crises, such as the Financial Crisis, the BP Oil Disaster, and others? Why did regulation fail to stop these crises?
• What effect does international trade have on domestic and international regulatory standards?
• Why do some businesses join voluntary regulatory organizations? How effective are such organizations?
• What role does regulation play in privatization of state-owned enterprises?

By the end of the course, students will understand the forces that shape the creation and implementation of regulatory policy. They will have knowledge of a wide variety of regulatory tools, such as command and control regulations, management-based regulations, as well as incentive-based regulation, such as taxes and cap and trade. They will be able to understand regulatory processes at domestic and international levels, and they will have an understanding of the tools necessary to evaluate regulations as well.