Rethinking de facto autonomy? A multi‐policy area approach and the regulatory policy process

Abstract

We examine de facto autonomy across regulatory agencies and policy sectors. Yet not much is known whether, how and why de facto autonomy could vary across policy areas within the same policy sector. This article demonstrates the existence of such variation and suggests that this variation depends on the interplay between stakeholders' diverging (or overlapping) policy preferences, deficient (or superior) organizational policy capacity, and institutional arrangements leading to enabled (or constrained) de facto autonomy. Relying on elite interviews and secondary resources, this study builds on an illustrative study on bank regulation in Turkey in the post‐GFC period and presents a nuanced understanding of de facto autonomy: a multi‐policy area approach to de facto autonomy that allows us to examine variation in de facto autonomy across policy areas, the determinants of the variation, and whether de facto autonomy is constrained or enabled, which structures the regulatory policy process.

Cultural biases, agenda setting, and the regulation of policy processes

“…Ugyel et al (2024) The last two contributions in this issue shed light on the regulation of policy processes through administrative stakeholders. Looking at bank regulation in Turkey between 2010 and 2016, Coban (2024) investigates how the de facto autonomy of regulatory agencies varies across policy areas within the same policy sector. He proposes a multi-policy area approach, arguing that interactions between organizational policy preferences, policy capacity, and institutional arrangements explain varying degrees of de facto autonomy across policy areas (Maggetti, 2007;McAlexander et al, 2023;Mukherjee et al, 2021).…”

“…本期的最后两篇文章阐明了行政利益攸关方对政策过程的监管。M. Kerem Coban(2024)聚焦于2010年至2016年土耳其的银行监管，研究了监管机构对同一政策部门内不同政策领域的事实上的自主权如何变化。他提出了一种多政策领域方法，并论证认为，组织政策偏好、政策能力、以及制度安排三者之间的相互作用能解释不同政策领域中不同程度的事实上的自主权(Maggetti, 2007; McAlexander, Yang, & Urpelainen, 2023; Mukherjee, Coban, & Bali, 2021)。该研究以“对(中央)银行家、监管机构、公职人员和消费者团体代表进行的45次半结构化精英访谈”为基础，聚焦于土耳其银行监管中的两个政策领域。访谈显示，在金融消费者保护方面，银行监管局(BRSA)由于政策偏好不同且权力资源少于部委和消费者团体，其…”

“…Las dos últimas contribuciones de este número arrojan luz sobre la regulación de los procesos políticos a través de los actores administrativos. Al analizar la regulación bancaria en Turquía entre 2010 y 2016, M. Kerem Coban (2024) investiga cómo la autonomía de facto de las agencias reguladoras varía entre áreas de políticas dentro del mismo sector de políticas. Propone un enfoque de áreas de políticas múltiples, argumentando que las interacciones entre las preferencias políticas de las organizaciones, la capacidad política y los acuerdos institucionales explican diversos grados de autonomía de facto entre las áreas de políticas (Maggetti, 2007; McAlexander, Yang y Urpelainen, 2023; Mukherjee, Coban, y Bali, 2021).…”