Classical Administrative Law

From the New Digest Archives

One sometimes hears, especially in American libertarian legal circles, that administrative law is a recent innovation, variously attributed to the late 19th century, to the Progresive Era, or the New Deal. At The New Digest, we think this is wrong both substantively and methodologically. Substantively, administrative law — the law (lex) bearing on the powers and duties of magistrates and executive officers, and their relationship to the law generally (ius) — has been a core concern of the classical law right from the beginning. Methodologically, a number of posts at The New Digest have already drawn upon classical principles to illuminate current controversies in administrative law. In today’s visit to the archives, we collect some of our posts on the subject. (Others are to be found elsewhere on this site). We hope you enjoy!

1. Evelyn Blacklock, “Self-Legislation and Chevron”

2. New Digest Reading List: The Origins of the (Western) Administrative State

3. Adrian Vermeule, “What Do Statutes Do?”

4. Kerry Sun, “Legal Form and Administrative Discretion”

5. Adrian Vermeule, “The Rule of Law Without Separation of Powers”