ABOUT THIS BOOK

Nations use product standards, and manipulate them, for reasons othen than practical use or safety. The Soviets once cultivated standards to isolate themselves. In the United States, codes and standards are often used to favor home industries over external competition, and to favor some producers over others. Krislov compares and contrasts the United States, the EC, the forner Eastern bloc, and Japan, to link standard choice with political styles and to trace growing internationalization based on product efficiency criteria.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Samuel Krislov is professor of political science at the University of Minnesota and author of several books on politics and law.

REVIEWS

“Hooray for Samuel Krislov's book on standardization. . . . Krislov's account of the evolution of standards might by itself make an excellent introduction to standardization in a course reading packet. Krislov is interested in the relationships among law, regulation, government, and organizations. He is concerned about bureaucratic inertia in official standards organizations. He favors voluntary industrial standards over outright regulation, and prefers performance standards (i.e., product capability requirements) over design standards (specifying the exact form of a product). He points out how standards boundaries have affected political alliances and created strong and lasting trade barriers.”
—Contemporary Sociology

"Krislov presents a detailed history of standards and also provides information on their economic and international implications. . . . Krislov emphasizes the American standards system and its institutions, but draws to institutional standards."
—Choice

“A fascinating overview of an extremely important but too often neglected subject, namely business standards and the critical role they have played and continue to play in both the national and global economy. What makes this study especially valuable is its rich and detailed comparative and historical scope.”
—David Vogel, University of California, Berkeley

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Preface

Part I. A Standards Primer

1. An Introduction to Standards: What They Do and Do Not Do

2. The Diverse Strands of Standardization

3. The Many Faces of Standards

Part II. American Standards: A System that Just Grew

4. Standards in American History

5. The American "System" of Standards

Part III. Other Systems, Other Functions

6. Standards in the European Community: Building Blocks Toward Integration?

7. Standard and the Japanese Miracle: The Politics and Economics of Quality

8. Standards as Boundaries: The Abortive Efforts of Soviet Europe

Part IV. Becoming and Evolving: The Future of Standards

9. The Evolution of Standerds and the Processes of Formalization

10. A World of Increasing Sameness?

Appendix 1. International Organizations Affecting Standards

Appendix 2. A Profile of Standard Setters

Notes

Index

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