ABSTRACT
The normative underpinnings of social regulatory policy give rise to intellectual debates about the political, philosophical, and legal reasoning of previous generations. Different kinds of interest groups influence policymaking in each of Theodore Lowi’s functional arenas. Because distributive policy gives benefits to recipients, these “clientele” groups lobby for such programs. The states have no policymaking role in Lowi’s economic regulatory arena, but federalism is an important variable in social regulatory policy. The ultimate problem of social regulatory policy is that consensus building is more difficult to achieve compared to any other policy arena. There are remarkable similarities in how the six controversies about social regulatory policy are handled by the political system. Self-interest cannot be the motivating force behind social regulatory policymaking because these conflicts focus on noneconomic, normative, and symbolic goals. The administrative process that shapes social regulatory policy is a microcosm of the legislative arena of power.
