ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyzes the role of non-financial groups in political conflicts about financial regulation. The history of the deregulation of financial markets dominated by industry interests raises the highly interesting theoretical puzzle of how special and well-organized interests could successfully be subordinated to diffuse and less-well-organized interests in recent financial reform cases. The sizable literature on interest groups reminds us that interests of the consumers often remain unorganized, inactive, and subordinate to the power and influence of business lobbies. More resourceful actors have a much better chance of getting their voice heard than less well-resourced groups. Accounts of recent reform efforts based on capture theory have not gone entirely uncontested. New research evaluating industry influence on post-crisis regulatory reforms in more detail is indeed more sophisticated than the narrative of pure capture that preceded it.
