Crisis and Legitimacy
The Administrative Process and American Government

This book identifies and examines the causes of the enduring sense of crisis associated with the administrative process.

James O. Freedman (Author)

9780521293808, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 May 1980

340 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.5 kg

One of the most striking developments in American history has been the steady growth in the administrative process, to the point that the regulatory agencies of the federal government now affect the lives of more citizens more pervasively than the courts and possibly the Congress. In virtually every relevant respect, the administrative process has become a fourth branch of government, comparable in the scope of its authority and the impact of its decision making to the three more familiar constitutional branches. This book identifies and examines the causes of the enduring sense of crisis associated with the administrative process. This book argues a theory of legitimacy for the administrative process must be created. The author seeks to develop such a theory from the quality of administrative justice, taking as a premise the conviction that the capacity of government to devise fair procedures for the discharge of its decision-making responsibilities is the essence of democratic practice.

Preface
Introduction
1. Crisis and legitimacy in the administrative process
Part I. Sources of crisis in the administrative process: 2. Separation of powers and the American imagination
3. The departure from judicial norms
4. Public perceptions and administrative performance
5. Agency independence and political accountability
6. Delegation of power and institutional competence
7. Explaining differences in agency performance
8. The significance of public attitudes toward agency goals
9. The significance of institutional capacities and limitations
Part II. The relevance of administrative procedure
10. Administrative procedure and the nature of legitimacy
Part III. The nature of the formal administrative process
11. Defining the idea of 'agency'
12. The Administrative Procedure Act and enforcement proceedings
13. The significance of an impartial hearing officer
14. Separation of functions and the Constitution
15. Disqualification for bias
Part IV. The nature of the informal administrative process: 16. The meaning of summary action
17. Summary action and the Constitution
18. Summary action as an administrative process
19. Structuring the use of summary action
Conclusion: 20. The challenge of administrative legitimacy
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP]