ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the politics of deregulation before turning to a more extensive discussion of regulatory review. In the 1930s, Congress passed a number of regulatory statutes that sought to regulate competition in a variety of industries, granting regulators the broad authority to set prices, determine acceptable products and services, and control entry and exit. As Terry M. Moe and Scott A. Wilson explain, regulatory review captures the essence of the institutional battle between the president and Congress. The Congress that had made a new commitment to social regulation would insulate its legislative achievements from deregulation. The expansion of regulation in the late 1960s and early 1970s stimulated a counter mobilization on the part of business. Cost-benefit-analysis-based review provided presidents with an enhanced ability to control executive branch regulatory agencies and forestall the promulgation of new regulations. The Clinton administration improved on the earlier system by only requiring review and regulatory impact analyses on economically significant rules.
