Business and Regulation
Fixing the U.S. government’s regulation process
On his first day in office, President Biden called for improving the way the federal government writes the rules for government agencies that oversee every public aspect of American life. He also called for a more equitable regulatory process. In response, scholars at the Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the New America Foundation have proposed ways to make the regulatory system fairer and more effective. Their new report, “Democratizing the Regulatory Process,” carries an equally ambitious subtitle: “A Blueprint to Strengthen Equity, Dignity, and Civic Engagement through Executive Branch Action.” The authors are HKS Professor Archon Fung, director of the Ash Center’s democratic governance programs, along with Hollie Russon Gilman and Mark Schmitt, both with New America’s Political Reform Program. They offer fresh perspectives on themes including how to weigh the costs and benefits of rules and regulations to account more broadly for factors including human dignity and the health of all the communities affected by regulations. |