Editing Red tape (section)

{{short description|Idiom for excessively bureaucratic procedures or regulations}}
{{About|the idiom referring to excessive bureaucratic regulation}}

'''Red tape''' is a concept employed to denounce excessive or redundant regulation and adherence to formal rules for creating unnecessary constraints on action and decision-making.<ref name="ET">{{cite web |title=What is red tape? |work=[[The Economic Times]] |date=11 December 2007 |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-empower/what-is-red-tape/articleshow/2613130.cms |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20211207100656/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-empower/what-is-red-tape/articleshow/2613130.cms |archive-date=2021-12-07 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/red-tape-awareness-week | title=Red Tape Awareness Week 2025 | publisher=Canadian Federation of Independent Business }}</ref><ref name=Bozeman>{{cite journal | first=Barry | last=Bozeman |author-link=Barry Bozeman | title=A Theory of Government "Red Tape" | journal=Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory | date=1993 | pages=273–303 }}</ref>{{rp|274, 278–9}} The occurrence of red tape is usually associated with governments but also extended to corporations.<ref name="ET" /><ref name=Bozeman/>{{rp|273–4}} While the term is intended to describe an institutional pathology, some [[Organizational theory|organizational theorists]] have argued that the existence of practices seen as red tape may be beneficial, and others have pointed to difficulties with distinguishing red tape from legitimate procedural safeguards.<ref name=Bozeman/>{{rp|276, 279}}

Red tape is in excess of the necessary ''administrative burden,'' or cost to the public, of implementing government policies and procedures.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Herd |first1=Pamela |author-link1=Pamela Herd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HER0DwAAQBAJ |title=Administrative Burden: Policymaking by Other Means |last2=Moynihan |first2=Donald P. |author-link2=Donald Moynihan |date=2019 |publisher=Russell Sage Foundation |isbn=978-1-61044-878-9 |pages=18 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peeters |first=Rik |date=2019-06-06 |title=The Political Economy of Administrative Burdens: A Theoretical Framework for Analyzing the Organizational Origins of Administrative Burdens |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0095399719854367 |journal=Administration & Society |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=566–592 |doi=10.1177/0095399719854367 |s2cid=195561302 |issn=0095-3997|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Burden |first1=Barry C. |author-link=Barry Burden |last2=Canon |first2=David T. |last3=Mayer |first3=Kenneth R. |last4=Moynihan |first4=Donald P. |author-link4=Donald Moynihan |date=2012 |title=The Effect of Administrative Burden on Bureaucratic Perception of Policies: Evidence from Election Administration |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41687989 |journal=Public Administration Review |volume=72 |issue=5 |pages=741–751 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02600.x |jstor=41687989 |issn=0033-3352|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heinrich |first=Carolyn J. |author-link=Carolyn Heinrich |date=2015-12-08 |title=The Bite of Administrative Burden: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muv034 |journal=Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=403–420 |doi=10.1093/jopart/muv034 |issn=1053-1858|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 
This definition is also consistent with popular usage, which generally views red tape as negative.<ref name=Bozeman />{{rp|276,278–9}}

Red tape can hamper the ability of firms to compete, grow, and create jobs.<ref name=NL>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/redtape/ |title=Red Tape Reduction Initiative &#124; Business |publisher=Gov.nl.ca |access-date=2012-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109084320/http://www.gov.nl.ca/redtape/ |archive-date=2012-11-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Cruz/>
Research finds red tape has a cost to public sector workers, and can reduce employee well-being and job satisfaction.<ref name="burnout"/><ref name=Steijn/><ref name="job demands"/>

In 2005, the UK's ''Better Regulation Task Force'' suggested that red tape reforms could lead to an increase in income of 16 billion pounds per year, an amount greater than 1% of GDP.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Measuring and Managing the Costs of Red Tape: A Review of Recent Policy Developments | journal=Oxford Review of Economic Policy | volume=22 | pages=260–273 | doi=10.1093/oxrep/grj016 | number=2 | date=2006 | first=Tim | last=Keyworth }}</ref>
The [[Canadian Federation of Independent Business]] estimated the cost to business of red tape arising from federal, provincial and municipal government regulations was $11 billion in 2020.<ref name=Cruz/>
This represented about 28% of the total burden of regulation for businesses in Canada.<ref name=Cruz>{{cite web | url= https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/research-economic-analysis/canadas-red-tape-report  | date=2021 | title=Canada's Red Tape Report: Sixth Edition | last1=Cruz | first1=Keyli Kosiorek | first2=Laura | last2=Jones | first3=Taylor | last3=Matchett }}</ref>

Some governments have introduced initiatives to limit or cut red tape, such as a one-for-one rule that removes one regulation each time a new administrative burden is imposed on business.<ref name=RTRA/><ref name=Falcon/>
Experience from [[British Columbia]], Canada suggests a successful red tape reduction initiative requires strong political commitment.<ref name=Falcon/><ref name=Jones/>