PUBP 710 – Section 3

 

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY

 

 

Jeffrey A. Brandwine                                                                                                               

Mason Hall D207

703-993-2619

Appointments after class

Or as scheduled

jbrand@gmu.edu

School of Public Policy

George Mason University

Fall, 2002

Monday, 7:20 pm – 10:00 pm

Arlington Campus

 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will cover administrative discretion, rulemaking and agency proceedings.  We will look at such issues as public participation, political accountability and regulatory oversight.  We will compare formal adjudication proceedings to informal action.  We will attempt to answer the question as to impact recent court decisions on sovereign immunity have on agency actions. 

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATIONS:

 

  1. There will be two (2) short paper assignments (4-5 pages). These are to be completed based upon the readings.

a)      Assignment #1 – Due 9/30/02 – 25% of the final grade

                            Can Sunstein’s deliberative model be fairly inferred from the text and legislative history of the APA, or would it require amendment?  Is Shapiro correct that changes that only occurred during the 1960’s and 1970’s cannot be said to have been intended by the enacting Congress?  How persuasive are Sunstein’s efforts to meet this objection?  On the merits of Sunstein’s proposal, how desirable would a deliberative model be as a policymaking system?  Is Shapiro’s characterization of Sunstein’s model as “economic substantive due process review” (72 Virginia Law Review 478) accurate?

 

b)     Assignment #2 – Due 11/04/02

                               Is public participation the same as public interest representation?  The public participates in agency policymaking through a variety of mechanisms, of which formal intervention as a party in agency proceedings is any one.  Some are indirect and operate through the political process:  congressional legislation and oversight; appointment of agency officials; advocacy by organized interest groups; and the like.  In agency rulemakings, anyone is permitted to file comments.  Media coverage of the most controversial agency policies can influence decision makers, as many 60 minutes programs have done.  Market pressures, which aggregate individual choices, shape and constrain agency decisions.  What are the strengths and weaknesses of these techniques?  Notwithstanding these techniques, is the system biased in ways suggesting that the public interest remains un-represented?  If so, what do you mean by the public interest?  How can it be institutionalized without creating new biases? 

 

  1. Paper – 35% of your final grade – Due 11/18/02

                 Assume that you are a senior administrative staff member to the director of a state or federal agency.  Select a contemporary administrative issue that your agency has been asked to address (such as privacy, the right to public information, etc.) and prepare a position paper for the director.  This paper should be 12-15 pages (excluding end-notes, bibliography, and appendices).   

 

  1. Final Exam – essay – in class exam – 40% of your final grade - 12/16/02

 

 

 

NOTE: GRADES ON ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS will be based on both substance and format; in other words, I expect research papers to follow proper term paper format as spelled out in any of the standard references (writing manuals) such as Turabian, the American Psychological Association Handbook, MLA, Campbell.  I will grade for spelling, syntax, grammar, the logical flow and structure of information, and etc. You will not receive an A on any paper if it is written poorly (no matter how substantive the paper may be.)  All papers must be typed, well-written, poorly (no matter how substantive the paper may be).  All papers must be typed, well-written, adequately footnoted (including appropriate scholarly references), and consistently formatted.

 

There will be no make-up exams unless you have received permission prior to the scheduled exam.

 

In preparing your term papers, you may need several consultations with me.  A class break is not usually sufficient to assure all the proper feedback you will need for progress.  Please set up an appointment with me when appropriate.  For problems requiring a short response, please call me during my office hours or send me an e-mail.  It is highly recommended that you try to identify term paper subject options in the first three weeks of class so that you can perform preliminary research necessary to support a coherent proposal.  THE UNIVERSITY HONOR CODE WILL BE IN EFFECT.

 

 

COURSE MATERIALS:  The following books should be purchased:

 

Richard J. Pierce, Jr., Administrative Law and Process, 3rd ed. (1999)

Peter H. Schuck, Foundations of Administrative Law (1994)

 

Other handouts of articles will be distributed during the semester.

 

ASSIGNMENTS

 

     1.  8/26

           Overview of the administrative law process

           Pierce – Chapter 1

           Schuck – Chapters 1 & 2

 

  1. 9/2 – Labor Day – No class

 

  1. 9/9

Legal nature of the administrative process

      Pierce – Chapter 2

      Schuck – Chapter 3

 

  1. 9/16

Agency Behavior

Schuck – Chapter 4

      

  1. 9/23

Models of legislative control

Pierce – Chapter 3

Schuck – Chapter 5

 

  1. 9/30 – Assignment #1 is due

Administrative discretion

Schuck – Chapter 6 – Articles 1 – 3

 

  1. 10/7

Administrative discretion

Schuck – Chapter 6 – Articles 4 - 6

 

  1. 10/15

Executive control

Pierce - Chapter 4

 

  1. 10/21

Judicial control

Pierce - Chapter 5, pp 118 – 176

 

  1. 10/28

Judicial control

Pierce – Chapter 6

 

 

 

 

  1. 11/4 – Assignment #2 is due

Access to public information

Va. Freedom of Information Act (handout)

Pierce – Chapter 8

 

  1. 11/11

Sovereign Immunity

Handouts

 

      13.  11/18 – Position paper is due

 Comparative processes

 Schuck – Chapter 7

 

       14.  11/25

  Fairness and Political Accountability

  Pierce – Chapter 9

 

15.      12/2

Future of administrative law

Schuck – Chapter 8

 

16.      12/16

Final exam