The ANNALS of The American Academy of Political and Social Science Volume 598, March 2005, The Rise Of Regulatory Capitalism: The Global Diffusion Of A New Order

Have neo-liberal reforms succeeded? To what extent the promises of less-restricted business operations were fulfilled? Although the ideology of neo-liberalism was extensively diffused, as well as the movement toward deregulation, the outcomes are puzzling. 

As the papers in this issue of The Annals suggest, the current economic order is anything but free of regulation. Indeed, many policy changes seem to have expanded and extended regulation – in a global sense. The international arena is increasingly legalized, and new layer of regulatory controls is being created at still another level of policymaking as regulatory solutions adopted in North America and Europe have spread across continents.

Instead of accepting the position of a neo-liberal hegemony, this volume of the annals examines the complex relationship between markets, regulation, private property, and public institutions and closely studies the reasons for policy changes in the environment of regulatory capitalism.

Going beyond the national case based approach, the authors in this issue take diffusion approaches, which hold a combination of horizontal, international and domestic explanations that will give readers a new understanding of how the global move to regulatory capitalism occurred and what the sources of its success are. 

Divided into three major parts, this issue includes articles covering globalization and diffusion in the following areas of analysis:

• Theoretical Frameworks: The Diffusion of Regulatory Capitalism
• The Diffusion of Economic Regulations
• The Diffusion of Social Regulations

Taken together, these topics create a comprehensive image of the many dimensions of the world-wide regulatory capitalism and a clearer understanding of its emerging characteristics. Scholars and policymakers in political science, sociology, and economics will find this an invaluable resource in understanding the enormous impact that increased regulation has had on the global social and economic fabric.