The British Regulatory State High Modernism and Hyper-Innovation [Hardcover]

For the first two thirds of the twentieth century, British government was among the most stable in the world. In the last three decades it has been a leader in innovation and its governing system has been in constant turmoil. This book, by one of Britain's leading political scientists, explains this transformation and traces its consequences. It will be essential reading for all those interested in British political development and, in particular, the central role of regulation in the modern state.

Introduction
1. Images of the Regulatory State
2. Creating Club Regulation
3. Transforming Self-Regulation
4. Regulating Privatization
5. Regulating Public Worlds
6. From Stagnation to Fiasco
Sources

The contribution of the book goes beyond applying sociocultural lenses to an examination of the relationship between regulators and regulatees. Its interpretation and exploration of within-government control in terms of regulation opens a new agenda for public administration research. In addition, it invites readers to broaden their thinking about regulation beyond the narrow contexts of privatization and government-business relationships. Last, by showing variance in regulation of different sectors within the same country, it questions the simplistic tendencies to think of regulation in terms of coherent national styles and of overarching and global trends. --Comparative Politics

Drawing on experienced scholarly observation, Michael Moran has written a strikingly critical evaluation of Britian's recent development of state regulatory authority.... His context is impressively comparative, notably with respect to the United States, and he makes good use of a considerable body of relevant American scholarly literature. Moreover, he is well aware of the impact of globalization and Europeanization.... The book's brevity... does not diminish the significance of the author's richly suggestive, interesting, and cogent thesisl³e