CONSTRUCTING STATE AUTONOMY - THE FEDERAL-TRADE-COMMISSION AND THE CELLER-KEFAUVER ACT

Though theory and suggests that state agencies can be important social actors in their own right, few studies have attempted to account for their organizational strength. We examine the passage of a key piece o f antitrust legislation, the Celler-Kefauver Act of 1950, and seek to account for the success of the Federal Trade Commission in expanding i ts regulatory mandate. We argue that the FTC was successful because it acted much like a social movement organization. Specifically, it defi ned mergers as a social problem, acted to spread this definition, mobi lized resources, set the political agenda, and, finally, took advantag e of a favorable opportunity structure. We close by suggesting other e xamples of initiatives by state agencies that might either verify or q ualify our findings.