Public Policymaking by Private Organizations: Challenges to Democratic Governance - Softcover

How private groups increasingly set public policy and regulate lives?with little public knowledge or attention.

From accrediting doctors and lawyers to setting industry and professional standards, private groups establish many of the public policies in today’s advanced societies. Yet this important role of nongovernmental organizations is largely ignored by those who study, teach, or report on public policy issues. Public Policymaking by Private Organizations sheds light on policymaking by private groups, which are unaccountable to the general public and often even to governments. The authors provide an overview of this phenomenon as well as in-depth case studies in the areas of finance, food safety, and certain professions. They find that policymaking by private groups, for good or ill, has substantial impact on the broader public?from ensuring the safety of home appliances to vetting the creditworthiness of individuals or complex financial instruments.

Private governance comes in so many forms that identifying it can be particularly difficult and perhaps impossible for those who are not already on the alert for it. Ranging from nonprofit associations to multinational corporations, private policymaking groups are everywhere. They certify professionals, establish industry regulations, and set technical and professional standards. Without the transparency required of governmental bodies, these organizations comprise a policymaking territory that is largely unseen, unreported, uncharted, and not easily reconciled with democratic principles. As such, that territory demands to be fully explored, documented, and understood. The goal is to recognize private governance, to see it in its multiple forms, and to make the case that excluding it from the field of public policy gives short shrift to a full understanding of the policymaking universe and the reach of democratic aspirations. Anyone concerned about how policies are made?and who makes them?should read this book.

How private groups increasingly set public policy and regulate lives—with little public knowledge or attention.

From accrediting doctors and lawyers to setting industry and professional standards, private groups establish many of the public policies in today&;s advanced societies. Yet this important role of nongovernmental organizations is largely ignored by those who study, teach, or report on public policy issues. Public Policymaking by Private Organizations sheds light on policymaking by private groups, which are unaccountable to the general public and often even to governments. The authors provide an overview of this phenomenon as well as in-depth case studies in the areas of finance, food safety, and certain professions. They find that policymaking by private groups, for good or ill, has substantial impact on the broader public—from ensuring the safety of home appliances to vetting the creditworthiness of individuals or complex financial instruments.

Private governance comes in so many forms that identifying it can be particularly difficult and perhaps impossible for those who are not already on the alert for it. Ranging from nonprofit associations to multinational corporations, private policymaking groups are everywhere. They certify professionals, establish industry regulations, and set technical and professional standards. Without the transparency required of governmental bodies, these organizations comprise a policymaking territory that is largely unseen, unreported, uncharted, and not easily reconciled with democratic principles. As such, that territory demands to be fully explored, documented, and understood. The goal is to recognize private governance, to see it in its multiple forms, and to make the case that excluding it from the field of public policy gives short shrift to a full understanding of the policymaking universe and the reach of democratic aspirations. Anyone concerned about how policies are made—and who makes them—should read this book.