LIST OF PANELS

The delegation of regulatory tasks to specialized autonomous administrations has proliferated around the globe and became a governance ‘best practice’ since the 1980s. Yet, the analysis of the relationship between regulatory governance and democracy still requires more scholar attention.

It has been acknowledged that regulatory agencies challenge the notion of representative democracy. More specifically, the independence of regulatory agencies and their detachment from political control (especially, from representative politicians) makes the place that regulatory governance holds in democratic settings unclear. As a response, three mechanisms have been suggested by the literature as central qualities to ensure the democratic legitimacy of regulatory agencies: (i) transparency, which focuses on the provision of information about different aspects of the performance of regulatory agencies to the wide public; (ii) accountability, that is focused on the mechanisms of information, justification and sanction of agencies’ performance; and (iii) participation, which is based on the mechanisms provided to different types of societal actors for their inclusion in agencies’ decision-making. 

The panel will devote special attention to the examination of the role that regulatory governance plays within democracy. This panel, therefore, offers the following research questions:

·         What are the drivers that lead to the constitution of new democratic practices in regulatory governance, such as participatory procedures and enhancement of transparency?

·         How does the concept of accountability fit within the concept of democracy in the context of regulatory governance?

·         Are there other practices, besides transparency, participation, and accountability, that enhance democracy that regulatory administration can do?

·         Did regulatory institutions change in light of recent trends of democratic backsliding?

Although accountability of regulatory governance has gained a vast amount of scholarly attention, the analysis of their interaction has not been sufficiently studied in the face of democratic norms and theory. In addition, a panel on the relationship between regulatory governance and democracy is especially relevant nowadays, since the role of expertise in public and regulatory decision-making process is continuously being questioned in the resolution the covid-19 crisis.

We therefore invite scholars working on the relationship of democracy and regulation from theoretical, empirical, or normative perspectives to submit an abstract.

The delegation of regulatory tasks to specialized autonomous administrations has proliferated around the globe and became a governance ‘best practice’ since the 1980s. Yet, the analysis of the relationship between regulatory governance and democracy still requires more scholar attention.

It has been acknowledged that regulatory agencies challenge the notion of representative democracy. More specifically, the independence of regulatory agencies and their detachment from political control (especially, from representative politicians) makes the place that regulatory governance holds in democratic settings unclear. As a response, three mechanisms have been suggested by the literature as central qualities to ensure the democratic legitimacy of regulatory agencies: (i) transparency, which focuses on the provision of information about different aspects of the performance of regulatory agencies to the wide public; (ii) accountability, that is focused on the mechanisms of information, justification and sanction of agencies’ performance; and (iii) participation, which is based on the mechanisms provided to different types of societal actors for their inclusion in agencies’ decision-making. 

The panel will devote special attention to the examination of the role that regulatory governance plays within democracy. This panel, therefore, offers the following research questions:

·         What are the drivers that lead to the constitution of new democratic practices in regulatory governance, such as participatory procedures and enhancement of transparency?

·         How does the concept of accountability fit within the concept of democracy in the context of regulatory governance?

·         Are there other practices, besides transparency, participation, and accountability, that enhance democracy that regulatory administration can do?

·         Did regulatory institutions change in light of recent trends of democratic backsliding?

Although accountability of regulatory governance has gained a vast amount of scholarly attention, the analysis of their interaction has not been sufficiently studied in the face of democratic norms and theory. In addition, a panel on the relationship between regulatory governance and democracy is especially relevant nowadays, since the role of expertise in public and regulatory decision-making process is continuously being questioned in the resolution the covid-19 crisis.

We therefore invite scholars working on the relationship of democracy and regulation from theoretical, empirical, or normative perspectives to submit an abstract.