Much Ado about Nothing?

Abstract

Policy scholars and decision makers should be careful before concluding that President Bush's recent Executive Order 13422 will result in "paralysis by analysis." That lament has been heard about other changes to rule making procedures over the last seven decades, yet steady increases in the cost and volume of federal regulations during that time period clearly indicate that paralysis has yet to set in. Administrative procedures are embedded within a complex web of politics, institutions, and organizational behavior. Within that web, procedures are but one factor influencing government agencies.

Keywords: Cary Coglianese, federal regulations, regulation, executive order, regulatory agencies, Office of Management and Budget, regulatory procedure, regulatory review, regulatory process, administrative procedure, bureaucracy, bureaucratic behavior, regulatory behavior, rhetoric, policy

JEL Classification: D07, D73, H00, H01, H10, H11, K02, K23, L5, O02, O20