Administrative Law for Public Managers

by David H. Rosenbloom

Administrative law has such a major impact on public administration that it cannot be left to the lawyers alone. One does not need to be a lawyer to learn or teach it from the perspectives of public management. The purpose of this book is to make administrative law more accessible to public administration students. As its title indicates, the book focuses on the essentials that public managers should know about administrative law--why we have administrative law, the constitutional constraints on public administration, and administrative law's frameworks for rulemaking, adjudication, enforcement, transparency, and judicial and legislative review. The book views administrative law from the perspectives of administrative practice, rather than lawyering. One will not find chapters on "getting into court" and "staying in court" here (Fox 2000). Instead, the emphasis is on how various administrative law provisions promote their underlying goal of improving the fit between public administration and U.S. democratic-constitutionalism.The discussion is organized around federal administrative law, which, in general, is more elaborate than state-level equivalents. Where appropriate, state approaches are noted as alternatives to federal practices. After reading the book, one should have a firm grip on federal administrative law and no difficulty learning the administrative law of any particular state. Unlike most administrative law texts, the book neither contains legal cases nor devotes much attention to the development of case law. Federal court decisions are readily available on Internet sites, such as www.findlaw.com, and can be flexibly selected by instructors to augment the text. Books dealing comprehensively with case law tend toward overkill in general public administrative education, sometimes running a thousand pages or more. The purpose of this book is to explain the essentials of administrative law clearly and accurately, in non-technical terms, and with sufficient depth to provide readers with a sophisticated, lasting understanding of the subject matter. It is intended for classroom use in two ways. First, as a supplement, it will efficiently cover the main dimensions of administrative law in general introductory public administration courses and in those on bureaucratic politics or political context of public management. Second, it can serve as a core text in public administration courses dealing with administrative law or the legal basis of public administration. As a core text, it could be coupled with one on constitutional law and selected legal cases of the instructor's choice. It is unlikely that the book will be used in law school classes, though law students may find it blissfully concise and helpful in explaining the political and administrative contexts and larger purposes of administrative law.

First published January 3, 2003

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Administrative law has been a glaring hole in my education and thus was a good intro to it.

[Chris Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosenbloom does a great job synthesizing the concepts of administrative law and weaving them into a coherent overview of the field.

Great read for public administrators looking for a ground-level understanding of the role that administrative law plays in public management.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Academic, but really helpful for understanding public administration.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Public managers should know something about administrative law as a survival strategy. This volume, authored by the well known scholar David Rosenbloom, is a useful tool for public managers. He covers key issues in administrative law in a manner that provides guidance for public managers. A rich resource and well worth perusing.