Regulation and Governance - POL00113M

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Module summary

This module studies the theory and practice of regulation and governance. 

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 2 2025-26

Module aims

This module takes as its point of departure two observations about the current state of public policy: across a wide and expanding range of domains and polities, public policy problems are increasingly addressed through regulation; this is said to have coincided with a broader shift from conventional government to governance. The module’s goal is to explore, both empirically and theoretically, the relationship between these two contemporaneous trends. It exposes students to a range of theoretical perspectives rather than schooling them in any one single approach. It begins by examining foundational issues such as the shift from direct state intervention to the increasing use of public policy in the form of rules - the ‘regulatory state’, the alleged end of traditional industrial policy, and hierarchical, dyadic relations conventionally analysed through the principal-agent framework. The module then goes on to explore more recent theoretical perspectives, like multi-level governance, non-hierarchical frameworks such as orchestration and experimentalist governance, the role of reputation and trust, and re-politicization countertendencies that might lead to a reversal of delegation. To encourages students to form their own views about which theories are most useful and why, examples will be drawn from the currently most pressing public policy problems – ranging from the energy transition, through digitalization and financialization that are in the interest of the broader society rather than of ‘big tech’ and ‘too-big-to-fail’ financial institutions, to the provision of medicines that is both rapid and safe.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module students should be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of the challenges encountered by international organisations, national regulatory authorities and regulated firms.

• Show a critical appreciation of traditional and contemporary regulation and governance literature;

• Be able to independently design and conduct policy-focused research projects

Module content

Module structure (indicative)

• Introduction

• The regulatory state 

• The end of industrial policy?

• Analysing delegation: the principal-agent framework

• Multi-level governance

• Orchestration

• Experimentalist governance

• Reputation and trust 

• (Re-)Politicization: reversing delegation?

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Module feedback

Students will receive written timely feedback on their formative assessment.  They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s feedback and guidance hours.

 

Students will receive written feedback on their summative assessment no later than 20 working days; and the module tutor will hold a specific session to discuss feedback, which students can also opt to attend.  They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s regular feedback and guidance hours.

Indicative reading

There is no single "course book", but rather core and further readings for each week. Students might nonetheless wish to start having a look at:

• Majone, G. (1994) ‘The rise of the regulatory state in Europe’. West European Politics, 17(3): 77-101;

• Thatcher, M. & Stone Sweet, A. (2002) ‘Theory and Practice of Delegation to Non-Majoritarian Institutions’. West European Politics 25(1): 1-22;

• Hooghe, L. & Marks, G. (2001) Multi-level Governance and European Integration. Rowman and Littlefield;

• Sabel, C.F. & Zeitlin, J.H. (2012) ‘Experimentalist Governance’. In: D Levi-Faur (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Governance, Oxford University Press, pp. 170-184;

Abbott, K.N., Genschel, P., Snidal, D. and Zangl, B. (2015) International Organizations as Orchestrators. Cambridge University Press.