NINOMANIA
:: A constitutional law blog by Scalia/Thomas fan David M. Wagner, M.A., J.D., Research Fellow, National Legal Foundation, and Teacher, Veritas Preparatory Academy. Opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not reflect those of the NLF or Veritas. :: bloghome | E-mail me ::
:: Friday, March 05, 2010 ::
A Yale Law Journal article makes the case for more, and more candid, political influence in administrative rule-making, linking this to the "democracy theory" of the Chevron doctrine, a theory I have always favored.
(In a nutshell: Chevron doctrine = judicial deference to an agency's interpretation of a statute it administers, where that interpretation is at least reasonable and not foreclosed by the plain terms of the statute.)
The people vote, a president is elected, he appoints agency heads (except for that embarrassing little anomoly called Humphrey's Executor that we'll get rid of some day, maybe even this term!), and boom -- agency policy shifts in the direction favored by the president the people elected. Duh. What's so hard about that? Why are so many scholars still so caught up in the late 19th century cult of expertise that they have a cow about this, instead of deferring to the "democratic" values that they claim to value in other contexts?
Give it up, please, for Prof. Kathryn A. Watts, University of Washington School of Law! (The sentiments in the third graf here are mine, not necessarily hers, but I applaud her for leading the way.)
:: David M. Wagner 1:41 PM [+] ::
...
(In a nutshell: Chevron doctrine = judicial deference to an agency's interpretation of a statute it administers, where that interpretation is at least reasonable and not foreclosed by the plain terms of the statute.)
The people vote, a president is elected, he appoints agency heads (except for that embarrassing little anomoly called Humphrey's Executor that we'll get rid of some day, maybe even this term!), and boom -- agency policy shifts in the direction favored by the president the people elected. Duh. What's so hard about that? Why are so many scholars still so caught up in the late 19th century cult of expertise that they have a cow about this, instead of deferring to the "democratic" values that they claim to value in other contexts?
Give it up, please, for Prof. Kathryn A. Watts, University of Washington School of Law! (The sentiments in the third graf here are mine, not necessarily hers, but I applaud her for leading the way.)
:: David M. Wagner 1:41 PM [+] ::
...
