Originally published in Governance
Authors examine opportunities for stakeholder participation in regulatory policymaking in the U.S. during the midnight period, the three months between the presidential election in November and the inauguration of the winning candidate the following January. During partisan presidential transitions, do agencies—in a sprint to the regulatory finish line—limit stakeholder participation? The article develops a novel typology of midnight regulations and construct an original data set of nearly 1,000 rules developed during several presidential administrations. Our analysis demonstrates that, contrary to conventional wisdom, midnight regulations do not exhibit a deficiency in participatory opportunities. In fact, rules proposed early in presidential terms that are promulgated during midnight periods are characterized by relatively expansive opportunities for participation. Normatively, the robustness of opportunities for participation during presidential transitions suggests that midnight regulations do not suffer from a lack of democratic legitimacy, at least with respect to inviting stakeholder input.