“Regulatory policy” by Horizon Institute for Public Service

Home / Policy levers / Regulatory policy Contents ▾ Policy Levers Updated 27th May 2026 42 min read Share Regulatory policy Overview Federal regulations—legally binding rules that Congress has authorized federal agencies to create—touch nearly all aspects of life. More than 100 US federal agencies regulate hundreds of thousands of activities and products, from aviation ---Outline:(00:09) Overview(01:18) Why does the government regulate?(03:34) Regulatory policy basics(07:21) Types of regulation(07:31) Policy areas and their regulators(07:49) Consumer protection(08:41) Antitrust and competition policy(09:41) Health, safety, and environment(10:47) Financial systems(12:25) National security and critical systems(13:37) Information integrity and online harms(14:31) Regulatory tools(15:27) Federal vs. state regulation(16:48) Regulation and emerging technology(17:48) Major recent regulatory developments in AI(20:45) Major recent regulatory developments in bio(23:27) Why (not) work on regulatory policy?(23:32) The case for impact(25:47) The case for professional growth(27:16) Some tradeoffs(29:37) The regulatory process: Who's involved?(32:16) Setting the agenda(32:41) Congress(33:47) The White House(35:34) Regulatory agencies(36:44) External groups(37:14) Drafting regulations(40:08) Interagency review and clearance(42:03) How to do a regulatory impact analysis(45:46) Public comment and consultation(47:04) Finalization and publication(49:35) Implementation and enforcement(53:03) Oversight(54:52) Working on regulatory policy: types of roles and career opportunities(55:37) Preparing for regulatory policy roles(58:50) Appendix: Day-in-the-life(58:54) Day in the life: Stories from people working on regulatory policy(01:00:34) Further reading(01:00:41) General(01:00:51) On regulation(01:01:11) On the rulemaking process(01:01:49) On regulatory analysis(01:01:58) Notes --- If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests. The original text contained 18 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: February 15th, 2026 Source: https://emergingtechpolicy.org/policy-levers/regulatory-policy ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.