Autonomy and regulation : explaining dynamics in the Flemish social housing sector

Abstract: The autonomy of implementing agencies often seems to trigger reregulation of those agencies. Reregulation has two dimensions: the layering of different control mechanisms and the growth of the rules within those layers. Using a case study of social housing in Belgium, we explain the tendency to reregulate once autonomy is provided. We attribute the layering of rules to a conflict regarding oversight between the established legal profession and an ascending management profession. Crozier's vicious circle of bureaucratization helps to explain the growth of regulation within layers. The... Mehr ...