The Expanding Role of the State in Professional Regulation

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

This project conducts a case study of attempts to reform regulation of a United States profession in the late 1990s and early 2000s, culminating in reforms enacted in 2002. Professionals can use their expert knowledge in ways that cause harm to clients, third parties, and society in general. A variety of regulatory approaches are possible for limiting or preventing such harm, including self-regulation, state regulation, or “regulation” by private market mechanisms. Professions have traditionally regulated themselves, but in recent years many countries have seen a gradual shift away from this model toward an increasing regulatory role for states. We know relatively little about why change is occurring in this particular direction. This study is a step toward increasing our understanding that additionally permits the development of theory explaining how and why similar shifts toward increased state regulation of professions have occurred in a number of settings and might occur in the future. More generally, the study sheds light on the circumstances that facilitate or impede change in the regulation of professional services, and begins to identify the limits on the possibilities open to societies to curb the misuse of expert knowledge. The research design is a case study in which the interactions among key actors and stakeholder groups involved in seeking, resisting, and shaping state-based regulation during the late 1990s and the early 2000s are traced. The case presents a kind of natural experiment: revelation of serious misconduct in the profession in 2001-2002 allows comparison of the same actors, decision options, and arguments before and after this key event. The data are primarily documentary: speeches, transcripts of hearings, government reports, and articles from both the professional trade press and the general news media. In addition to developing new theory and informing future efforts at regulatory change, the project will build intellectual bridges between the study of professions and other subfields and disciplines. It will also contribute to revitalizing research on professional and expert work. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.