Tracing the Development of U.S. Independent Regulators

This chapter examines the origins and development of independent regulatory agencies in the United States, discusses the agencies and commissions typically considered “independent,” and considers foundational topics for the scholarship on regulation more broadly, including regulatory capture and deregulation, that have emerged from studies of these types of regulators specifically. The discussion explores the history of independent regulators and how independent regulators are commonly distinguished from executive branch agencies, highlighting difficulties with conventional categorizations. In reviewing contemporary challenges and topics for future study, the chapter explores research on alternative ways to evaluate independence and considers the implications of exempting independent regulators from centralized regulatory review requirements. It further contemplates the need for more systematic work on independent regulators in four areas with maturing literatures ranging from the relationship between independent regulators and the executive branch to the role that independent regulators can play in a U.S. environment characterized by political polarization. Ultimately, the chapter argues that continued effort to study U.S. independent regulators can provide an impetus for foundational ideas that will propel regulatory scholarship in the future, just as it has in the past