Though theory and evidence 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 of antitrust legislation, the Celler-Kefauver Act of 1950, and seek to account for the success of the Federal Trade Commission in expanding its regulatory mandate. We argue that the FTC was successful because it acted much like a social movement organization. Specifically, it defined mergers as a social problem, acted to spread this definition, mobilized resources, set the political agenda, and, finally, took advantage of a favorable opportunity structure. We close by suggesting other examples of initiatives by state agencies that might either verify or qualify our findings.
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