The Report of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on Class Action Reform (1985–1993)

The latter part of the twentieth century, particularly from the late 1960s onwards, saw an expansion of bureaucracy in public administration, while mass production became ever more pervasive in private industry.1 As the size of institutions and businesses grew, they became increasingly distant from the citizens that used them.2 A wider swath of citizens was being affected by the actions of those institutions and businesses at the same time as it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain recourse against them. This era saw activists such as Ralph Nader rise to prominence — individuals who campaigned for consumer, environmental, and other rights, as well as for recourse for breach of those rights. The cost of litigation meant that very few individuals would be willing to sue the government or a multinational corporation for a wrong done to them; however, class actions rose in popularity as people began to see that there was strength in numbers.