Call for papers - IBEI International Workshop
Regulatory Agencies: The Challenges of Independence, Accountability and Transparency
13-14 July 2012
As part of the GlobalReg Project (http://globalreg-project.net), the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) is organizing an international workshop to discuss the challenges of political accountability and transparency in the context of regulatory agencies.
- Aims and Focus of the Workshop
Regulatory governance has expanded in recent decades, transforming the interaction between the public and the private domains. Based on autonomy, independence, and expertise as fundamental elements to the improvement of policy outcomes and economic efficiency, regulatory agencies have been established to regulate multiple areas, including economic and social issues. However, the accountability of regulatory agencies is being increasingly and simultaneously discussed in the public and political arena. As their decisions are not merely technocratic and often involve politically sensitive choices, the political and social isolation of regulatory agencies raise concerns about democratic accountability and transparency.
Moving beyond normative frameworks, the international workshop "Regulatory Agencies: The Challenges of Independence, Accountability and Transparency" intends to contribute a theoretical and empirical evaluation of the nature and processes of accountability and transparency in regulatory agencies.
In more concrete terms, the Workshop is organized around two core dimensions. A first dimension will assess the process, namely the specific transparency and access to information mechanisms, as a way to shed light on the nature and implications of both principles in current regulatory regimes, both from a cross-country and a cross-sectoral perspective. Second, the workshop will consider the relations of cooperation and conflict between regulators and the agencies' audiences - namely, politicians, public servants, professionals, business and civil society actors - in the context of regulatory governance to better understand the underlying argumentative and dialogical dynamics.
We invite theoretical and empirical papers that help address the more general question: Under what conditions do regulatory agencies promote transparency and accountability? The following is a list of indicative, but not exhaustive, topics and issues:
1. How do the notions of transparency and accountability work in practice in regulatory agencies?
2. How are transparency and accountability reconciled with the idea of autonomy?
3. Which accountability mechanisms are relevant for the effectiveness of regulatory agencies?
4. To what extent do accountability and transparency contribute to the learning capacities of regulatory agencies and/or audiences?
- Submission of Proposals
Abstract proposals should not exceed 500 words in length and should include further ideas for discussion. Preferred format for all submissions is PDF. Please send your proposal as attachment to csanchez@ibei.org and insert "Submission: Regulatory Agencies Workshop" as the subject line of the message.
The deadline for abstracts is 10 April 2012. All proposals will undergo peer review and notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 24 April 2012. Full papers are expected to be delivered by 29 June 2012 to be ready for circulation.
- Format of the Workshop
The workshop will last one and a half days and take place in central Barcelona. Attendance will be open to interested researchers, students and practitioners.
The selected authors' travel expenditures (economy class) and hotel accommodation to participate in the Workshop will be reimbursed by the IBEI. Detailed guidelines explaining the logistics of the conference will be provided at a later stage.