Professional regulation

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed an increase in interest in professional regulation. The extent to which the professions should control professional regulation and the provision of professional services is the issue at stake. The strengthening of societal forces and attitudes on either side has intensified matters. Forces on the side of professional dominance include tradition, expertise, and politics. Opposed are individual liberty and individualism, theories of free enterprise, and egalitarianism. The controversy has also been influenced by recent political developments involving the emergence of two antiregulatory movements: the “control” movement, and the “antigovernment” movement. The former involves an attempt to control government regulatory power. The latter is a more broad-based political attack on regulation aimed at less government in general. The most significant impact of the current controversy is that professional regulation has become an important public issue.