studies: (1) making an effort to understand the perspective of the regulated community, (2) give the regulated community the benefit of the doubt, (3) to use persuasion rather than threats, (4) be flexible as appropriate, and (5) and willingness by both parties to cooperate (see Figure 1.3). Figure 1.3 Attributes of the Flexible, Results-Oriented Regulatory Style Understand perspective of the regulated community Give the regulated community the benefit of the doubt Utilize persuasion instead of threats Be flexible as appropriate Cooperation First, regulators with this regulatory style endeavor to understand their regulatory counterparts in an effort work with them to achieve compliance (as opposed to working against them). Every facility that a regulator deals with is different and, as a result, a regulator has to take those differences into account in his/her interactions. However, understanding where a facility is in terms of environmental commitment, capacity and compliance, does not mean that the facility should be exempt from relevant rules; rather, it indicates that a regulator works with the facility where it is rather than where the regulator thinks the facility should be. If, for example, a dry cleaner has recently changed owners and the new owner does not even realize that the facility has an air permit, the regulator cannot initially begin with discussions about best practices; rather, the basics need to be explained first. According to the Lilliputians, it is very important to understand the facility that they are regulating before making demands. percent of regulators agreed while only ten percent disagreed. Often regulators can and do give their regulatory counterparts the benefit of the doubt - thereby indicating they are not inherently skeptical of the facilities. Regulators with this style think that it is advantageous to exhibit respect and even trust toward their regulatory counterparts and be willing to work together first, and change course only later if needed (c.f. Pautz and Wamsley 2012). Put differently, regulators assume the best about the facility until they have
We that new terminology is needed because the existing labels can be interpreted pejoratively. For example, if a regulator embraces a strict, rules-oriented, regulatory style, then the presumption is that the regulator is mean, adversarial and only “goes by the book.”This negative connotation does not serve the regulator well nor does it help promote environmental protection other than through punitive means. This is not to say that regulators do not or should not enforce the regulations – after all that it is their primary role – but this label does not convey that regulators with this style may be helpful and want to work with the regulated community to achieve environmental protection, rather than simply exercise their authority and be environmental cops. Therefore, we suggest that the term “precision-based” is more appropriate because it better captures a regulator’s style of focusing on enforcement of the exact rules without conveying the negative attributes associated with being power hungry and adversarial. Precision is typically a positive term used to describe accuracy and care, which are laudable traits in a regulator. By contrast, a Lilliputian who embraces a flexible, results-oriented regulatory style may be perceived as soft, easily manipulated, and ripe for regulatory capture. However, the implication is negative for the regulator. Being flexible and willing to work with counterparts is a quintessential part of interactions, and regulatory interactions necessitate give and take from both sides (Axelrod 1984, 1997; Posner 2000; Zaheer, McEvily, & Perrone 1998; McCaffrey et al. 2007).However, this label indicates that regulators with this style are easily taken advantage of and succumb to the regulated community. Instead, we argue that the label “intention-based” enforcement style better conveys that regulators who embrace this style examine the intentions of the regulated facility and they consider the intent of the regulation. Although this label does