The Regulatory Craft: Controlling Risks, Solving Problems, and Managing Compliance

Rating:
Summary: re-thinking the role of government
Review: Author Malcolm Sparrow suggests something so simple about the role of government that it's revolutionary -- agencies should be in the business of finding important problems and fixing them.

Simple -- but difficult.

Anyone who works in government would tell you they solve problems all the time. But most objective looks at government show that government's primary job is to "implement programs." Those programs often deftly solve problems. Yet they leave much undone. It is the undone problems that Sparrow's book deals with.

Sparrow is an old cop, turned top-level educator. He's got a doctorate and teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He is a recognized expert in results-based reform of government. Personally, he is glib and practical.

His experience with policing seems to drive his philosophy. At the crux is this quote from his mentor, Herman Goldstein:

"...policing becomes more effective if police, rather than processing 911 calls one after another and in isolation, could learn to identify underlying patterns and then fashion tailor-made solutions that prevent recurrences." (page 72)

Sparrow shows how identifying patterns and fashioning tailor-made solutions is the crux for most government -- not just police. He ampley cites examples from environmental agencies, customs, OSHA and others to show this. He tells the real-life obstacles to achieving this, too (page 112). Overall, he tells how government could do better and who's doing it.

The book implies a unique slant on deterrence. While getting tough may achieve a deterrence effect, too often it happens after the evil deed. Sparrow suggests that government deter before the deed. How? Analyze patterns of unsolved problems, then tailor interventions to deter BEFORE the problem happens. This is not to rule out enforcement punch -- just to focus it on those against whom it's most effective. He shows that it can be done using case studies.

Sparrow's thinking should appeal to the pragmatist. This book is not pie-in-the-sky theory. It blends top-level thinking and on the ground experience. If you think government could be doing better, you could do worse than picking up a copy of "The Regulatory Craft."