Steven J. Balla
Professor Balla’s research focuses on stakeholder participation in the development of regulations in the US and China. Who participates in the making and implementing of regulations? Does this participation have an effect on regulatory outputs and outcomes? Balla has studied the notice and comment process, OIRA regulatory review, advisory committees and negotiated rulemakings, among other topics.
For the 2015 - 2016 academic year, Balla served as a Fulbright Scholar at Nankai University in Tianjin, China. Balla also served as a Fulbright Scholar in 2008-2009 at Peking University in Beijing, where he lectured on the American regulatory system and began conducting research on public involvement in policymaking in the Chinese political system.
With William T. Gormley, Jr., Balla is the author of Bureaucracy and Democracy: Accountability and Performance. He holds a Ph.D. from Duke University.
Responding to Mass, Computer-Generated, and Malattributed Comments
A number of technological and political forces have transformed the once staid and insider dominated notice-and-comment process into a forum for large scale, sometimes messy, participation in regulatory decision making.
Notice and Comment Policymaking During Uncertain Times
The notice and comment process—in which governments make public draft policies and solicit feedback on these proposals—is seen as a vehicle for promoting transparency, participation, and responsiveness in policymaking.
Notice and Comment Policymaking in China
This commentary examines how the notice and comment process in Guangzhou has changed.
The notice and comment process is a prominent governance reform in contemporary China.
Mass, Computer-Generated, and Fraudulent Comments
This report explores three forms of commenting in federal rulemaking that have been enabled by technological advances: mass, fraudulent, and computer-generated comments.
