LAW 553

Reconstructing the Administrative State: Theory and Practice

Law School

Recommended for route(s):

[ Regulatory & Policy ] Intellectual Property: Life Sciences/ Biotechnology

General course Description:

Two sorts of pressures currently drive efforts to reconceive and reform the administrative state. First, a longstanding disappointment with "command and control" type centralized administration now competes with a newer sensitivity to the limitations of inadequately structured privatization and decentralization. The challenge is to avoid the stultification of bureaucracy without surrendering to the opportunism and disorder of the unregulated marketplace. Second, the central role of the national government in the traditional picture of public law has been challenged on one side by globalization and on the other by renewed vitality of sub-national governments. The challenge here is to understand how these various governmental units fit together most plausibly. The seminar will consider these issues through readings on general issues and case studies. Among the general themes addressed will be the comparative advantages and limits of (i) highly specified regulation ("command-and-control"), (ii) market simulation (e.g., emissions trading, school vouchers), and (3) regimes that combine local autonomy with centrally coordinated measurement and accountability ("new governance" or "democratic experimentalism"); reporting and disclosure policy; the role of private standard setting and monitoring in the enforcement of public law; the role of the courts in supervising the performance of public institutions; the design of sanctions; monitoring regimes and indicators. Case studies may include air pollution, food safety, financial institution regulation, nuclear power safety, protection of abused and neglected children, protection of endangered species in international waters, and national security. Students will make at least one presentation in class and will write either a single medium-length paper or a series of short ones.

Course Style: A Substantive course teaches the law, theory, and policy in a particular area of law

Course Frequency: Offered once a year

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