This project aims to analyze the implementation of legislation. To implement a law, administrative agencies pass their own policies in order to fill in details not specified by the law. A major question in the study of democratic accountability is how agencies are held accountable and whose interests are reflected in the ways laws are implemented. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is responsible for carrying out this review process.
The intellectual merit of this project is associated with its study of an agency whose processes have not yet been subjected to systematic analysis. The purpose of this project is to analyze when, why, and how the review process is used. The primary research task is to compile a new dataset of all policymaking by agencies, indicating which policies were chosen for review and the outcome of review. To compile this dataset, OIRA's yearly summary documents and requests will be coded alongside more detailed information regarding exchanges between OIRA and agencies. The new data on instances of OIRA review will be combined with existing data on all agency policymaking from 1983-2010. When complete, the dataset of all policymaking, which includes both policies reviewed and not reviewed by OIRA, will permit an analysis of when, why, and how the review process is used.
The broader impacts of the project are associated with its research output and training components. The project will advance our understanding of the implementation of laws which, in turn, influences the opportunities of underrepresented groups. Further, the project will involve the training of undergraduate students in the research process.
