Essays

Power Corrupts

Administrative law today neglects administration, focusing instead on power and the institutions that wield it, particularly the Supreme Court, the president, and Congress. Tracing the field’s reorientation—from the New Deal–era cases that revealed the thin political will behind the Administrative Procedure Act to the emergence of the Chevron doctrine—this paper argues that administrative law’s obsession with power corrupts the field.

Monday, November 13, 2023 0 min read By: Emily S. Bremer, Research Team: Center for Revitalizing American Institutions,

Power Corrupts

Abstract: Administrative law today neglects administration, focusing instead on power and the institutions that wield it, particularly the Supreme Court, the president, and Congress. Tracing the field’s reorientation—from the New Deal–era cases that revealed the thin political will behind the Administrative Procedure Act to the emergence of the Chevron doctrine—this paper argues that administrative law’s obsession with power corrupts the field.

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Power Corrupts by Hoover Institution

About the Author

Emily Bremer is an associate professor of law at the University of Notre Dame Law School, where she teaches and writes in the areas of administrative law, regulatory process, and civil procedure. Her scholarship focuses primarily on matters of procedural design, with a recent focus on the intellectual history and meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Other Essays in this Series

Administrative Harms by Philip Hamburger

The Major Questions Doctrine: Right Diagnosis, Wrong Remedy by Thomas W. Merrill

The Administrative State, Inside Out by Cass R. Sunstein