Public Health and Responsive Regulation: A Theoretical Framework for Public Health Governance -- The Food Pyramid Meets the Regulatory Pyramid: Responsive Regulation of Food Advertising to Children
31 Pages Posted: 2 May 2015 Last revised: 4 May 2015
Date Written: May 1, 2015
Abstract
This chapter forms part of a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of a PhD from the Faculty of Law, University of Sydney.
This chapter brings together public health law and regulatory studies to propose a theoretical framework for public health governance and, more specifically, for the problem this thesis addresses: regulation of advertising of unhealthy food to children. First I describe the expanding scope of public health law and the creation of new forms of public health regulation. I also discuss literature conceptualising the state’s role in public health and the justifications for government intervention in public health problems. The second half of the chapter explores regulatory studies literature and its view of the state in the context of ‘regulatory capitalism’. Additionally, I describe how regulatory scholars design strategies that harness the capacities of self-regulation while compensating for its weaknesses, with a particular focus on the theory of responsive regulation. I outline some criticisms of a responsive regulatory approach, and show how these have been addressed in recent literature. Finally I identify some common themes in public health law and regulatory studies literature, which I use as the basis for a responsive approach to public health governance.
Keywords: regulatory theory, responsive regulation, public health law, governance, regulatory capitalism
JEL Classification: J10, K30, K32
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation