Regulation in Practice

Many scholars have acknowledged the importance of the informal dimensions of regulatory independence but few have managed to study them convincingly. In this essential book, Maggetti shows how the informal aspects of independence can be analysed systematically and demonstrates their importance for the role of regulatory agencies in policy-making processes. Maggetti's work is bound to have a lasting impact on the way we think about the independence of regulatory authorities. -- Fabrizio Gilardi, University of Zurich

The field of regulation and governance is thriving and fast becoming one of the most exciting era of research in the social sciences in general and political science in particular. Martino Maggetti's study of de facto independence demonstrates how and why the field is blooming. Maggetti's moves the research forward in an impressive way - from the formal aspect of institutional independence to its the informal and day-to-day practices. To understand the limits, promises, success and failures of regulatory agencies we need to measure, correlate, analyse and interpret de facto independence. Maggetti gives us an important tool for analysis and in doing so pushes the study of regulatory institutions and regulatory performances significantly forward. -- David Levi-Faur, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

After thirty years of research on the formal independence of regulatory agencies, Martino Maggetti conceptualises, measures and explains de facto, practical independence. This new book offers original data and a fascinating comparative design: it will be indispensable to those engaged with regulatory studies, comparative public policy, and institutional design. -- Claudio Radaelli, University of Exeter

Only a few scholars have been able to assess how 'de facto independence' of regulatory agencies relates to their formal discretion. In this thought-provoking book, which is a must-read for students and researchers in regulation studies, Martino Maggetti shows in a highly innovative and rigorous way that 'de facto independence' of agencies is not even explained by their formal independence, but rather by their life-cycle and inclusion in networks. The book shows clearly how central IRA's are in policy making and how this is affected by this independence. The approach in this book is highly enlightening, theoretically, in terms of triangulation of data collection methods as well as by the use of comparative configurational methods. This book is nothing less but a major and crucial contribution to the field. -- Koen Verhoest, University of Antwerp

Martino Maggetti (PhD, University of Lausanne) is a lecturer at the Department of Political Science (University of Zurich) and senior researcher at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques et Internationales (University of Lausanne). He is part of the "Internationalization, Mediatization, and the Accountability of Regulatory Agencies" project, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, and teaches Comparative Regulatory Governance and Public Policy Methodology. His research interests focus on comparative politics, policy analysis and regulatory governance. His research articles have appeared in various edited books and international journals, including Business & Society, European Political Science Review, Journal of European Public Policy, and Regulation & Governance.