ABSTRACT
In this book we argue that the level of the bureaucratic response is directly related to the diversity of the regulatory environment. This statement leads us to our first question: What is a regulatory environment? A regulatory environment involves the various actors (e.g., politicians, other bureaucrats, the courts, the regulated industry, other interest groups, and so on) that agency personnel deal with on a regular basis. But it is more than just an issue network, for it also involves economic conditions relevant to the problem being regulated, the organizational structure employed by the various regulating agencies, the manner in which these agencies interact with each other, the way in which relevant legislation is written (e.g., clear and concise, obtuse and general), the demographic composition of the target population for the regulatory action, and, perhaps most important of all, the nature of the externality being regulated. In this latter category we are interested in such criteria as who is affected by the regulation, what do agency personnel regulate, how tractable is the regulatory problem, and in what setting or different settings does the regulatory enforcement occur. As we noted in the introduction, we believe that agencies that operate within the framework of a highly diverse regulatory environment will employ a negotiated, or what we will later call a pragmatic, enforcement style. They also will employ considerable bureaucratic discretion in enforcing the law.
