Can Regulators Get Their Mojo Back?

On June 10th Dan Carpenter, The Freed Professor of Government at Harvard University and the author of Reputation and Power: Organizational Image and Pharmaceutical Regulation at the FDA, Phil Longman, a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation and a Senior Research Fellow at Washington Monthly Magazine and Martha Derthick, Emeritus professor of American Politics at the University of Virginia met to discuss how politicians can learn from the FDA when regulating other sectors.. Steven Teles, a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation and Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, hosted the panel discussion.

With the regulatory failures that led to the financial crisis, the gulf oil spill and the recent mining disaster in West Virginia fresh in America’s collective memory, regulation has once again become a political issue. Legislators should therefore pay attention to the lessons learnt by some of America’s most successful regulators, the Food and Drug Administration. Mr. Carpenter described at length its notable successes, particularly its decision to refuse to allow thalidomide to come to market and its development of four phase toxicity testing, now the global standard. He gave notable advice to other regulators, advising them to play the ‘Bad cop’ to keep their regulated industries in line. Mr. Longman talked about his extensive research into the Veterans Health Administration, an institution he describes as the only true example of socialised medicine in the United States. He pointed out that regulators and government bureaucracies are effectively able to set industrial policy through their interactions with private firms, giving the example of VHA hospitals close interactions with teaching hospitals leading to medical breakthroughs. Ms. Derthick continued by talking about the history of the Social Security Administration, explaining that although Congress had originally created the program on the condition that it was financially self sufficient, by the 1970’s faulty actuarial work and false predictions of fertility rates had already necessitated a Congressional bail out. All the speakers – each experts in the histories of their chosen agencies – made apparent clear lessons for legislators pursuing regulatory change.

To read Steven Teles review of Reputation and Power in Washington Monthly Magazine, please click here.

This event is co-sponsored by the Washington Monthly Magazine.

Participants

Featured Speaker
Professor Daniel Carpenter
The Freed Professor of Government, Harvard University
Author, Reputation and Power: Organizational Image and Pharmaceutical Regulation at the FDA

Respondents
Phil Longman
Senior Research Fellow, New America Foundation
Schwartz Fellow, Washington Monthly Magazine

Martha Derthick
Professor Emeritus of American Politics
University of Virginia

Moderator
Steven Teles
Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation
Associate Professor of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University