This Paper sheds light on the role of regulatory agencies (RAs) on framing public problems. On the one hand, the framing process of public issues is a fundamental step since it is determinant for the following of policies. On the other hand, it is well acknowledged that regulatory agencies are becoming even more key actors in the policy process. To this extent, a normative justification regarding the delegation of regulatory agencies discusses the fact that they solve problems rather than defining them. Although the literature on framing as well as on regulatory agencies is overlapping, studies questioning the combination of these two phenomena are still scarce. The aim of this study is to fill this gap from an empirical perspective.
In this empirical Paper, a specific ‘framing index’ is developed to measure the role of thirty regulators on framing in two policy sectors; namely food safety and environmental protection. Hence, this measurement is applied to a cross-national and cross-sectorial fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.
In conclusion, this article suggests that the way public problems are viewed in different countries could possibly depend on the role which national regulatory agencies play in the framing process.
