Regulatory Program
Vanderbilt Regulatory Program
The Vanderbilt Regulatory Program is dedicated to the study of how governmental activities influence public or private behavior for purposes of promoting economic well-being, environmental protection, and health and safety. The program concentrates on direct means of regulatory governance, such as federal statutes and agency rules, as well as less direct means, including information disclosure strategies and voluntary arrangements that arise in the shadow of “official” law. In addition to offering second- and third-year students a range of elective courses and practical experience on issues of regulatory law, the program sponsors annual scholarly events, including round-table discussions, conferences, symposia and lectures, and provides faculty with intensive research support in their areas of interest.
Professors Lisa Bressman and Michael Vandenbergh co-direct the Regulatory Program. Professor Bressman is an innovative scholar in administrative law who focuses on the relationship between agency legitimacy and political control. Professor Vandenbergh has undertaken path-breaking work in environmental law, charting the ways in which private behavior contributes to environmental harm and voluntary agreements serve regulatory purposes. A number of scholars on Vanderbilt's law faculty who focus on specific areas of regulatory law and policy are affiliated with the program.
- Affiliated Faculty
- Regulatory Electives
- Fellowships & Externships
- Research Grants
- Scholarly Events
- Regulatory Electives
- Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies - Center for Health Policy
The Vanderbilt Climate Change Research Network
The Climate Change Research Network at Vanderbilt, an initiative supported by Vanderbilt's Regulatory and Environmental Law Programs, the Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies and the Vanderbilt Center for the Study of Religion and Culture, includes a team of faculty and graduate students who are conducting theoretical and applied research on one of the most important and most widely overlooked sources of greenhouse gases: individual and household behavior.
Student Opportunities
Opportunities for for legal education and practical experience in regulatory governance include:
- Elective courses in administrative law, environmental law, labor and employment law, land use regulation, health and safety regulation, securities regulation and risk regulation
- Fellowships and externships, which allow students to apply and refine their theoretical learning and develop interests and connections that will benefit them in the future
- The Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review, a new publication debuting in 2008 that will publish scholarly articles presenting the best legal and policy solutions to pressing environmental problems
