Interrogations #3 with Eow Comments Sociology 924 Session 4: Micro-analytic Approaches to the State

I would like to suggest that we spend part of our discussion time applying Barzel’s vocabulary and model to the recent series of corporate scandals and the subsequent U.S. government response to these scandals. What follows is a set of observations that are intended to form the beginning of such an application: ?? The U.S. is a rule -of-law state that engages in third-party enforcement of contracts. ?? As far as I can tell, there are several types of third-party enforcement, engaged in by various arms of the U.S. government: o The Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates the sale and exchange of stocks (for an official description of what this body does, I browsed to: http://www.sec.gov/about/whatwedo.shtml o The Department of Justice and the system of federal courts, which prosecute and mete out punishment to those who violate laws pertaining to the trading of securities, and which adjudicate disputes between stockholders and corporations; o The Internal Revenue Service, which monitors the reporting and tax payments of parties involved in securities trading.