Outsourcing the Law

A Philosophical Perspective on Regulation

Pauline Westerman, Professor in Philosophy of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen and Member of Staff, Academy for Legislation, the Hague, the Netherlands. Elected as Member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences in 2010

Not only can services such as cleaning and catering be outsourced, but also governmental tasks such as making, applying and enforcing the law. Outsourcing the law is usually recommended for its cost-efficiency, flexibility, higher rates of compliance and its promise of deregulation. However, lawmaking is not the same as cleaning and rules are more than just tools to achieve aims. In this timely book, Pauline Westerman analyses this outsourcing from a philosophical perspective.

‘Westerman’s book shines a bright light on what is otherwise a rather unilluminated area of legisprudence. It identifies outsourced law as a new paradigm of legislation and effectively analyses what this means for our traditional notions of what “legislation” means, and what legislation is meant to do. It also throws up some challenging questions about the effectiveness, and even the legitimacy of outsourced law.’
– Ronan Cormacain, Theory and Practice of Legislation

‘Westerman’s Outsourcing the Law: A Philosophical Perspective on Regulation is a must read book for all those who are interested in the world of regulation! Clearly written, it tackles fundamental regulatory issues combining a highly pedagogical approach with a deep insight and understanding of extremely complicated and basic questions.’
– Mauro Zamboni, Stockholm University, Sweden