Sally Katzen

Collection: Perspectives on Modern Regulatory Governance
Dates of interview: October – November 2012
Interviewer: Edward Balleisen and Jonathan Wiener
Interview length: ~8 hours
Transcript: (PDF)
Location of interview: Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University, Durham, NC

Brief biography: Sally Katzen was the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) during the Clinton Administration from 1993 to 1998.  Katzen completed her undergraduate degree at Smith College and went on to the University of Michigan School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review.  Katzen was the first woman to hold such a position on any major law review.  After completing law school, Katzen became a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where she specialized in administrative law and regulation.  Katzen first entered government service as the General Counsel of the Council on Wage and Price Stability from 1979 to 1981, and later returned to public service as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) from 1993 to 1998.  Since leaving OIRA, Katzen has held various positions in academia, government service, and the private sector; she is currently a Senior Advisor at the Podesta Group and a visiting professor at the New York University School of Law.

Brief summary: These interviews survey an incredibly broad range of topics in regulatory governance and law, spanning from the early days of television regulation to air quality standards to food safety rules, and outlining key institutional connections between the Council on Wage and Price Stability and the modern OIRA.  In addition to its value to scholars interested in the process and possibilities of effective regulatory policymaking, these interviews (particularly the first one) provide a valuable account of the experiences of women in the legal profession in the mid-twentieth century.

Time range of discussion: 1963-2012

(Keywords coming soon)

John F. Kennedy Library

The John F. Kennedy Library provides access to over a thousand fully transcribed and searchable interviews. These interviews are also categorized by subject term, and an initial survey of relevant subject terms revealed 10 interviews with significant regulatory content. There are likely more.

These interviews are most useful for understanding public/private partnerships in utilities markets, especially electrical power and emerging commercial satellite communications. In the realm of environmental regulation, policies under the purview of the Department of Interior such as mining and mine safety, forest management and fire responses, and the use of federal lands and resources to generate and transmit electrical power garner the most attention. Rural electrification and the structure of power “wheeling” agreements in the west receive much discussion.

Researchers interested in the regulation of the communications industries will also find interviews of interest. Some interviews provide extensive discussion of the FCC, the State Department and the development of the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) to provide and regulate multinational commercial satellite communications, as well as the development and regulation of cable television.

Other interviews examine the workings of the Federal Trade Commission and the role of the Council of Economic Advisors is shaping economic policy during the Kennedy Administration.

Summary by:  Elizabeth Brake