Informational Regulation and Informational Standing: Akins and Beyond

Abstract

This Article discusses informational regulation and informational standing. It outlines the rise of informational regulation as an alternative to government command-and-control and offers a discussion of why and when information might be a good regulatory tool. It also shows how the grant of legal rights to information raises a host of novel standing issues, testing the notions of injury in fact, redressability, generalized grievances, and "arguably within the zone" of statutorily protected interests. Based on a detailed analysis of Federal Election Commission v. Akins, and lower court cases, it develops guidelines for standing in informational cases, recognizing that Congress can grant informational standing when it chooses, but that the redressability and "zone" limitations call for denials of standing in some contexts.