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Regulation Without Government: European Biotech, Private Anti-Terrorism Standards, and the Idea of Strong Self-Governance
Effective private sector self-regulation typically requires unanimous agreement. Historically, this has forced organizers to design weak initiatives that every industry member can agree to. Not surprisingly, these "lowest common denominator" standards have often been weak. Many observers take this as a sign that self-regulation is inherently ineffective. But is this true? Many 'New Economy' industries repeatedly converge on strong and even controversial standards. Indeed, the dominance of Microsoft and other Internet giants is based on this phenomenon. In these cases, at least, standards organizers do not even try to please everyone. Instead, they focus on being the first to achieve some critical mass of supporters. Thereafter, economic forces tend to reinforce the dominant standard until even its opponents join. So far, most New Economy standards have been narrowly focused on technical specifications and economic issues. However, there is no reason why the same market forces cannot be made to serve self-governance and policy goals. This article - written by Stephen Maurer - describes a landmark experiment in which a small group of European biotech companies did just that. Despite early opposition, their voluntary system for screening customer orders against terrorist threats has now been adopted across the industry. This is true even though the new practices require much more effort than official US government guidelines. Maurer's article explores this example in detail and explains why similar "strong self-governance" experiments should be possible in most high tech industries. More than this, Maurer argues that industry self-governance will usually reflect democratic values. In the process, he breathes new life into the concept of industry self-regulation. Finally, he suggests concrete steps that government can take to promote future self-governance experiments by industry. (Series: Schriften des Munchner Centrums fur Governance-Forschung - Vol. 5)
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Regulation Without Government: European Biotech, Private Anti-Terrorism Standards, and the Idea of Strong Self-Governance
Effective private sector self-regulation typically requires unanimous agreement. Historically, this has forced organizers to design weak initiatives that every industry member can agree to. Not surprisingly, these "lowest common denominator" standards have often been weak. Many observers take this as a sign that self-regulation is inherently ineffective. But is this true? Many 'New Economy' industries repeatedly converge on strong and even controversial standards. Indeed, the dominance of Microsoft and other Internet giants is based on this phenomenon. In these cases, at least, standards organizers do not even try to please everyone. Instead, they focus on being the first to achieve some critical mass of supporters. Thereafter, economic forces tend to reinforce the dominant standard until even its opponents join. So far, most New Economy standards have been narrowly focused on technical specifications and economic issues. However, there is no reason why the same market forces cannot be made to serve self-governance and policy goals. This article - written by Stephen Maurer - describes a landmark experiment in which a small group of European biotech companies did just that. Despite early opposition, their voluntary system for screening customer orders against terrorist threats has now been adopted across the industry. This is true even though the new practices require much more effort than official US government guidelines. Maurer's article explores this example in detail and explains why similar "strong self-governance" experiments should be possible in most high tech industries. More than this, Maurer argues that industry self-governance will usually reflect democratic values. In the process, he breathes new life into the concept of industry self-regulation. Finally, he suggests concrete steps that government can take to promote future self-governance experiments by industry. (Series: Schriften des Munchner Centrums fur Governance-Forschung - Vol. 5)
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Regulation Without Government: European Biotech, Private Anti-Terrorism Standards, and the Idea of Strong Self-Governance

Regulation Without Government: European Biotech, Private Anti-Terrorism Standards, and the Idea of Strong Self-Governance

by Stephen M. Maurer
Regulation Without Government: European Biotech, Private Anti-Terrorism Standards, and the Idea of Strong Self-Governance

Regulation Without Government: European Biotech, Private Anti-Terrorism Standards, and the Idea of Strong Self-Governance

by Stephen M. Maurer

Overview

Effective private sector self-regulation typically requires unanimous agreement. Historically, this has forced organizers to design weak initiatives that every industry member can agree to. Not surprisingly, these "lowest common denominator" standards have often been weak. Many observers take this as a sign that self-regulation is inherently ineffective. But is this true? Many 'New Economy' industries repeatedly converge on strong and even controversial standards. Indeed, the dominance of Microsoft and other Internet giants is based on this phenomenon. In these cases, at least, standards organizers do not even try to please everyone. Instead, they focus on being the first to achieve some critical mass of supporters. Thereafter, economic forces tend to reinforce the dominant standard until even its opponents join. So far, most New Economy standards have been narrowly focused on technical specifications and economic issues. However, there is no reason why the same market forces cannot be made to serve self-governance and policy goals. This article - written by Stephen Maurer - describes a landmark experiment in which a small group of European biotech companies did just that. Despite early opposition, their voluntary system for screening customer orders against terrorist threats has now been adopted across the industry. This is true even though the new practices require much more effort than official US government guidelines. Maurer's article explores this example in detail and explains why similar "strong self-governance" experiments should be possible in most high tech industries. More than this, Maurer argues that industry self-governance will usually reflect democratic values. In the process, he breathes new life into the concept of industry self-regulation. Finally, he suggests concrete steps that government can take to promote future self-governance experiments by industry. (Series: Schriften des Munchner Centrums fur Governance-Forschung - Vol. 5)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9783832970932
Publisher: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft
Publication date: 01/01/2012
Pages: 44
Sales rank: 302,932
Product dimensions: 8.60(w) x 5.80(h) x 0.20(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword 5

Regulation Without Government: European Biotech, Private Anti-Terrorism Standards, and the Idea of Strong Self-Governance 9

1 Introduction: An Experiment in Governance 11

2 Strong Self-Governance 15

3 Synthetic Genes: Community, Customers, Security Choices 19

4 The Development of Private Screening Standards 23

5 The Development of Public Screening Standards 25

6 When Is Strong Self-Governance Possible? 29

7 Is Strong Self-Governance Desirable? (Pt. 1): Practicalities 31

8 Is Strong Self-Governance Desirable? (Pt. 2): Arguments from Theory 33

9 Is Strong Self-Governance Desirable? (Pt. 3): Procedural Argument 39

10 Next Steps 41

11 Conclusion: The Future of Strong Self-Governance 43

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