Deregulation continues to be a fiercely debated issue in the US. The proper role and amount of government intervention or oversight is constant fodder for politicians, analysts and talk radio, and the anti-regulation movement within the federal government formed in the 1970s. While that debate rages, however, regulation at the state level remains below the radar screen, yet it is a crucial part of the picture. Some states are even countering the federal trend by supplementing their own regulatory efforts. Thus the push toward devolution of powers may actually be helping states strengthen regulation in some areas rather than weaken it in some areas. Paul Teske provides the foundation necessary to assess competing claims about state regulation. His book provides empirical analysis across all 50 states in ten important areas of industry, including utilities, telecommunications, the environment, health care certification, legal services and bank solvency. He finds that fears of regulatory capture by industry are overblown, as are concerns that a "race to the bottom" will necessarily result from competition between states trying to lure industry. State legislatures and agencies still base decisions on their own ideologies and analysis. Nevertheless, there are exceptions to the rules, especially in the case of occupational regulation, and there clearly is room for improvement in state-level regulation. Teske assesses a wide range of possible reforms.
Paul Teske, professor of public affairs at the University of Colorado's Graduate School of Public Affairs in Denver, is the author or coauthor of several books including Choosing Schools: Consumer Choice and the Quality of American Schools (with Mark Schneider and Melissa Marschall). Teske has written widely on political economy and regulatory questions.
"At the very moment that state regulatory powers are being extended in new ways in numerous areas of public policy, Paul Teske offers the most comprehensive analysis of the evolving state government role published to date....[he] has gathered an outstanding collection of former graduate students to offer a penetrating look at the ways in which state governments tackle a wide range of regulatory tasks...this book covers much new ground and offers invaluable insights to diverse scholars." -Barry G. Rabe, University of Michigan, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 4/20/2005 |"The author provides the foundation necessary to assess competing claims of state-based economic regulation in a time of turbulent politics. He offers breadth and depth, producing an indispensable resource." -Frank T. Colon, Lehigh University, Perspectives on Political Science |"... provides us with a sound theoretical framework for analyzing state regulation, a series of useful historical overviews of different areas of state regulation, and groundbreaking comparative empirical analyses of factors influencing each area.... This is a book worth reading. The topic is important, the research is interesting and counterintuitive, and the conclusions are valuable and driven by the research findings.... A useful starting point for learning about research in the entire area of state regulation, suitable for graduate student and interested scholar alike." -Tracy Lightcap, LaGrange College, The Law and Politics Book Review, 6/1/2004 |"should be high on the reading lists of any serious federalism or regulatory policy scholar." -Denise Scheberle, Publius, 9/22/2006
