More detectors and effectors? The changing ability of citizens to interact and engage with the regulatory state

In the 1980s and especially the 1990s, governments and parliaments in established democracies delegated far-reaching competences to independent regulatory agencies. Insulated from electoral pressure and party politics, these agency would possess limited input-based democratic legitimacy, but would compensate this by producing better outcomes for the economy and society. Yet, over the past decade, the performance of independent regulators has increasingly been questioned – especially in terms of what it has delivered for (ordinary and vulnerable) consumers, and how well it has protected consumers against corporate power. These questions have been translated into (public and political) pressure on the agencies to become more consumer-oriented, but also on legislators to introduce more consumer-oriented provisions in legislation. Yet, although anecdotal evidence suggests that these pressure have been followed by consumer-oriented statutory reforms, there are no systemic studies of these changes. Focusing on economic regulators in four European countries with different political-economic and welfare systems (the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom), we seek to fill this gap in the literature by analysing consumer-oriented statutory changes (from 2000 to 2020). More specifically, building on Hood’s (1986) work, we look at (changes in) mechanisms that allow citizens to learn and gather information about regulatory processes (“detectors”), and mechanisms that enable citizens to actively participate in, and influence, these processes (“effectors”). Our study also explores what has driven changes in these mechanisms. By answering these questions, we seek to shed light on the changing formal ability of consumers to shape, and engage with, the regulatory state.