AUTONOMY AND REREGULATION: EXPLAINING DYNAMICS IN THE FLEMISH SOCIAL HOUSING SECTOR

Deregulation is often followed by reregulation. This article studies why moves towards autonomy frequently appear to be followed by the imposition of new regulatory controls. Reregulation has two dimensions: the layering of different control mechanisms and the growth of rules within those layers. Using a case study of social housing in Belgium, we study the social mechanisms of professionalization and bureaucratization to explain reregulation. We attribute the layering of rules to a conflict over oversight between the established legal profession and an ascending management profession. We also find that Crozier’s vicious circle of bureaucratization helps to explain the growth of regulation. The legal culture of the Rechtsstaat seems to be a catalyst for both social mechanisms.