I focused my attentation on two points in this paper. Firstly, I explore the relationships between the competition system and the philosophical bases in economic and social doctrines which encouraged, the architectural profession which it supported. Secondly, I intend to describe the development of the modern competition system. The economic theories were applied to architecture; these were natural laws and laissez-faire. The principles of competition and progress were never doubted. Two developments aided architects in attaining both a sense of professional identity and a way of regulating the comprtition system; these were the founding of professional societies and the emergence of a professional architectural press. The first organized effort to control the competition system was made in 1839 by the Competition Committee of the Institute of British Architects, but the problems had remained virtually unchanged by the 1880s. A code of regulations was drawn up by the RIBA in 1872, but this were much like earlier codes and recommendations. From the 1890s, the RIBA established a permanent committee to review the conditions of all competitions and authorize members to participate; the measure was paralleled in various other countries, notably in the 1911 international regulations of the CIAM.