Legal Regulations Definition

Often, regulations do not impose restrictions, but allow, facilitate or adapt activities without restrictions. These regulations include the provision of roads, health and relief services, public education and public libraries, social services, relief for victims of natural disasters and rescue operations for failing institutions. These services directly influence (or “adapt”) the behavior of individuals and companies. In the abstract, all government actions are supposed to influence the behavior of individuals and companies, but not necessarily directly. For example, activities related to national defence and foreign policy tend to have only an indirect impact on the behaviour of individuals and companies.1212.See, for example, Staff Paper, U.S. Congressional Budget Office, The Number of Federal Employees Engaged in Regulatory Activities (1976); Robert Baldwin & Martin Cave, Understanding Regulation 2 (1999) (“Regulation is often seen as an activity that restricts behaviour. (a “red light” concept), but the influence of regulation can also be enabling or facilitating (“green light”). Regulations are issued by various departments and agencies of the federal government to implement the intent of legislation enacted by Congress. Administrative agencies, often referred to as “bureaucracy,” perform a number of different government functions, including rule-making. The rules adopted by these bodies are called regulations and are intended to guide the activities of persons regulated by the agency as well as the activities of the agency`s staff. Regulations also serve to ensure consistent application of the law. Lawmakers and courts have long sought to implement this seemingly simple regulatory approach.

It wasn`t until 1906, after decades of debate, that Congress passed the Pure Food Act, which prohibits the manufacture and sale of “any adulterated or mislabeled food or drug.” 2727.See James Harvey Young, Pure Food: Securing the Federal Food and Drugs Act of 1906 (1989); Peter Temin, The Origin of Mandatory Drug Prescriptions, 22 J. L. & Econ. 91 (1979); see also Sam Peltzman, The Health Effects of Mandatory Prescriptions, 30 J. L. & Econ. 207 (1987) (Criticism of restrictions on the sale of medicines). Several poisons, such as tobacco products and unsaturated fatty acids (“trans fats”), are still legal and their regulation was and is controversial. Although the obvious adverse health effects of tobacco and trans fats have been known for decades, legislators and courts are reluctant to recognize that this is the “appropriate role of public authority to protect against accidents.” 2828.See, for example, FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 529 U.S. 120 (2000). The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub.

L. No. 111-31, 123 Stat. 1845 (2009) gave the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. Regulatory attempts to impose sales restrictions or require disclosures ran into obstacles and objections.2929.La FDA did not begin requiring the disclosure of trans fats until 2003. Food & Drug Administration, Food Labeling: Trans Fatty Acids in Nutrition Labeling, Nutrient Content Claims, and Health Claims, 68 Fed. Reg. 41434 (July 11, 2003). In 2007, New York City introduced a ban on trans fats in food establishments. See N.Y.

State Rest. Ass`n v. N.Y. City Vol. of Health, 556 F.3d 114 (2d Cir. 2009); Roark & Hardee LP v. Austin, 522 F.3d 533 (5th Cir. 2008); R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v.

FDA, 845 F. Supp. 2d 266 (D.D.C. 2012); Walgreen Co. v. San Francisco, 185 Cal. App. 4th 424 (2010). Another common notion of “regulation,” or at least a popular reference to regulation, equates the concept with laws that serve interest groups.1616.See also Barak Orbach, Invisible Lawmaking, 79 Uni.

Chi. L. Rev. Dialogues 1 (2012). Economist George Stigler popularized this view, stating that “regulation is acquired by industry and designed and operated primarily to its advantage.” 1717.George J. Stigler, The Theory of Economic Regulation, 2 Bell J. Econ. & Mgm`t Sci. 3, 3 (1971); see also Gabriel Kolko, The Triumph of Conservatism: A Reinterpretation of American History, 1900-1916 3 (1963) (reviewing the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission and its early years and concluding that “regulation itself was invariably controlled by the leaders of the regulated industry and directed towards objectives they considered acceptable or desirable”); Sam Pelzman, Towards a More General Theory of Regulation, 19 J. L. & Econ. 211 (1976).

Richard Posner offered a refined version of this perception: “Regulation [is] a product assigned in accordance with the basic principles of supply and demand. [and] we can expect a product to be delivered to those who value it most. 1818.Richard A. Posner, Theories of Economic Regulation, 5 Bell J. Econ. & Mgm`t Sci. 335, 344 (1974). Over the years, Justice Richard Posner`s view of regulation has evolved and changed. See, for example, Richard A. Posner, The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy 1-2 (2010) (“(C)apitalism is not a synonym for free markets.

It is a name given to a complex economic system with many moving parts. (Some of these parts) include a system of laws to protect property and facilitate transactions, institutions to enforce these laws, and regulations to balance private incentives with the goal of overall prosperity. Posner, op. cit. cit., note 16, p. 12 (“From a normative economic point of view, the purpose of regulation, whether by courts or agencies, is to solve economic problems that cannot be solved by the market.”). 1919.Preventing Capture: Special Interest Influence in Regulation and How to Limit It (Daniel Carpenter & David Moss eds., 2012). Even if the regulator is co-opted by the industry, it is far from clear that a lack of regulation would be better for the public.2020.See, for example, Robert W. Harbeson, Railroads and Regulation, 1877-1916: Conspiracy or Public Interest?, 27 J. Econ.

Hist. 230 (1967). The definition of regulation as interference with privacy is quite old. As early as the mid-nineteenth century, John Stuart Mill casually used the word “regulation” to describe “government intervention in the affairs of society” and the laws implementing such interventions.2323.John Stuart Mill, 2 Principles of Political Economy 525-71 (1848).