Organizing Regulatory Space

Abstract This chapter explores the more important implications for the connections between capitalism, culture, and regulation. It begins by identifying the most distinctive features of economic regulation. It goes on to suggest that regulation is best understood through the analytical device of ‘regulatory space’. It then sketches how national political and legal settings, historical timing, organizational structure, the character of markets, and the nature of issue arenas all influence the shape of regulatory space and the allocation of power within that space.