Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2009
Abstract
Each year, federal regulatory agencies create thousands of new rules that affect the economy. When these agencies insulate themselves too much from the public, they are more likely to make suboptimal decisions and decrease public acceptance of their resulting rules. A nonpartisan Task Force on Transparency and Public Participation met in 2008 to identify current deficiencies in agency rulemaking procedures and develop recommendations for the next presidential administration to improve the quality of regulations and the legitimacy of regulatory proceedings. This report summarizes the Task Force's deliberations, indicating ways that federal agencies could do a better job of seeking citizen comment earlier in the rulemaking process and of reaching out to all affected groups in an evenhanded manner. The report includes not only targeted recommendations on transparency and public participation, but also strategic-management recommendations which, if adopted, should help ensure that agencies continue to improve their transparency and public participation practices over time.
Keywords
Administrative law, regulatory agencies, federal regulation, citizen comment, fairness
Publication Title
George Washington Law Review
Repository Citation
Coglianese, Cary; Kilmartin, Heather; and Mendelson, Evan, "Transparency and Public Participation in the Rulemaking Process: Recommendations for the New Administration" (2009). All Faculty Scholarship. 238.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/238
Included in
Administrative Law Commons, American Politics Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons
Publication Citation
77 Geo. Wash L. Rev. 924 (2009); Transparency and Public Participation Task Force, Transparency and Public Participation in the Rulemaking Process: A Nonpartisan Presidential Transition Task Force Report (University of Pennsylvania Law School, July 2008)