The Regulators: Anonymous Power Brokers in American Politics

by Cindy Skrzycki, Cindy Skrzycki

The Regulators is a fresh look at how the regulatory system works in Washington and how it affects the life of every American. The book, an incisive and sometimes entertaining look at the back corridors of government, draws upon real-life regulatory episodes that illustrate the power and reach of the rule-making establishment in Washington. It's the first examination of the regulatory world, and the entities that interact with it, that is both accessible and indispensable to undergraduate, graduate, business, and law students, as well as regulatory practitioners and political junkies alike.

Genres: Politics

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

For years Cindy Skrzycki wrote the best column in the Washington Post, one that took the reader behind the mundane but consequential decisions of federal regulators, from people regulating the size of prunes to those mandating the cleaning of the Hudson River. She managed time and again to show how many intersecting lines of influence shaped the process.

This book tries to be a bit of an introduction to that regulatory process, and for some people it might be that. The explanations and general introductions to different areas of regulation are pretty simple, however, and often have more than a few typos and misprints. It seems not too much effort was spent on them. Instead, the meat of the book, and what makes it worthwhile, are reprints of her column, and they are consistently illuminating. For one, this book dredges up some intense but now almost forgotten regulatory battles, like the struggle over the ergonomics rule, almost 20 years in the making by OSHA, which would have regulated the seating and position and movements of almost every American at work, until it was repealed by a new, more conservative presidency and Congress in 2001. It also delves into detail on NHTSA battle on measuring tire inflation after Firestone tire failures caused over 150 deaths in the late 1990s (Who remembers that huge imbroglio these days?). This too was softened and reshaped by the Bush administration in 2001.

But Skrzycki is at her best when she dives into the real minutiae, and manages to show how funny and intractable such regulatory battles can be. My favorite is her description of FDA's attempt to decide the right "serving size" for hard candy calorie labels. When they settled at 15 grams a serving, some breathmint companies, like Mentos, complained that they should only have to post 2 grams per serving since people just ate one breathmint per "breath maloder elimination" attempt, as the agency termed it. So such a category was created. Tic-Tacs complained then that they needed a 0.5 gram category for their smaller breath mint, and had to send scientific survey data into the FDA until the agency decided for smaller breathmints there would be a separate, "one unit" serving size. Altoids, in between Tic-Tacs and Mentos, of course complained, and the process continued. It shows how corporations are involved in even the smallest aspects of regulation, and how much money rides on the tiniest decisions.

So enjoy the lovely collection of columns here, and take or leave the rest as you will.

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book describes the government bureaucrats who regulate our everyday lives. They put forth rules for just about everything. Food safety, wetland protection, ergonomics standards, workplace safety, transportation, etc. The minutia of these rules are fought over strenuously by lobbyists and Congress. The book is best when it describes examples of these rules. For example the fight over the size of the holes in swiss cheese, Clinton's proposed ergonomic standards in the workplace, the controversy over the serving size of breath mints, the low volume toilet. The book really brings home how much power these anonymous power brokers wield in our lives, and how much power in turn is wielded by the lobbyists who try to control them.

[Debbie is on Storygraph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my Public Administration class, one chapter for each class for the past two weeks. It was a fun, quick read and highly educating without sounding like a textbook on the subject. Skrzycki writes objectively though there is some liberal bias that sneaks in every once in awhile, easily ignored. I, for one, am in favor of regulation for environmental and health reasons so it was an interesting read from that perspective. Recommended for anyone in the US interested in regulation.

[Alexys · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has a lot of great information, but it is so hard to read without falling asleep.