Greed, Chaos, and Governance : Using Public Choice to Improve Public Law / Jerry L. Mashaw.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mashaw, Jerry L., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Legislation--United States.

Legislation.

Administrative procedure--United States.

Administrative procedure.

Social choice.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2008]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Public choice theory should be taken seriously-but not too seriously. In this thought-provoking book, Jerry Mashaw stakes out a middle ground between those who champion public choice theory (the application of the conventional methodology of economics to political science matters, also known as rational choice theory) and those who disparage it. He argues that in many cases public choice theory's reach has exceeded its grasp. In others, public choice insights have not been pursued far enough by those who are concerned with the operation and improvement of legal institutions.While Mashaw addresses perennial questions of constitutional law, legislative interpretation, administrative law, and the design of public institutions, he arrives at innovative conclusions. Countering the positions of key public choice theorists, Mashaw finds public choice approaches virtually useless as an aid to the interpretation of statutes, and he finds public choice arguments against delegating political decisions to administrators incoherent. But, using the tools of public choice analysts, he reverses the lawyers' conventional wisdom by arguing that substantive rationality review is not only legitimate but a lesser invasion of legislative prerogatives than much judicial interpretation of statutes. And, criticizing three decades of "law reform," Mashaw contends that pre-enforcement judicial review of agency rules has seriously undermined both governmental capacity and the rule of law.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1. The Challenge of Positive Political Theory

2. The Quest for Usable Knowledge

3. Public Choice and Rationality Review

4. Legislatures, Deals, and Statutory Interpretation

5. Explaining Administrative Process

6. Should Administrators Make Political Decisions?

7. Legal Control of Administrative Policymaking: The "Judicial Review Game"

8. Separated Powers and Regulatory Policymaking

9. Public Choice Pragmatics

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780300147421

0300147422

OCLC:

1024008295