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To Run a Constitution: The Legitimacy of the Administrative State

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Author: John A. Rohr
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$14.95~~
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Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.7

ISBN: 0700603018
Dewey Decimal Number: 353.0309
EAN: 9780700603015
ASIN: 0700603018

Publication Date: May 1986
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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
In 1887, the centennial year of the American Constitution, Woodrow Wilson wrote that "it is getting to be harder to Irun/I a constitution than to frame one." The context for Wilson's comment was an essay calling for sound principles of administration that would enable government officials to "run" a constitution well. Wilson and his fellow civil-service reformers had a profound influence on the development of American administrative institutions. Unfortunately, the reformers paid more attention to the exigencies of running a constitution than to the Constitution itself. They and their intellectual progeny developed a theory of administration that was at odds with the theory of the Constitution. As a result, we find ourselves living today in what we often call an "administrative state"--a state seemingly bereft of legitimating principles grounded in the political thought of the framers of the Constitution. PIn ITo Run a Constitution,/I John A. Rohr takes seriously two basic premises: de Tocqueville's belief that citizens are corrupted by obeying powers they believe to be illegitimate, and the view that, despite present political sentiment, the administrative state is here to stay. The book focuses on the important question of whether the administrative state, an abiding presence in American politics, can be justified in terms of the American constitutional tradition. PIn addressing this question, Rohr goes beyond considerations of case law to examine the principles of the Constitution both at its founding and in its subsequent development. Relying on the normative character of political "foundings," Rohr analyzes three significant founding periods: 1) the founding of the Republic, 1787-1795; 2) the founding of public administration, 1883-1899; and 3) the founding of the administrative state, 1933-1941. He judges the last two foundings by the first in developing his argument that the modern administrative state can be justified in terms of the kind of government the framers of the Constitution envisaged. POn the eve of the bicentennial of the Constitution, Rohr's argument advances a new, normative theory of public administration that is intended to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States," in accordance with the oath of office taken by public administrators. It is critical reading for scholars in the fields of public administration, political science, and constitutional studies. PThis book is part of the IStudies in Government and Public Policy/I series.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars

A CONSTITUTIONAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE FOR BUREAUCRACY August 11, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

John Rohr has put together a short yet insightful book about the origins and evolution of the administrative regulatory state in the United States. Beginning with the Federalist Papers and other writings of the Framers, working his way through the writings of Woodrow Wilson, Frank Goodnow, and Judge Cooley, and finally looking at works of New Dealers such as Kenneth Culp Davis, Rohr superbly traces the intellectual history of administration. Every senior and mid-level government employee ought to read it.pThe key theme of this book is legitimacy. Rohr believes (with reason) that while administrative agencies have been found lega1 by the courts, they are not in fact legitimate parts of the American constitutional tradition in the eyes of many citizens. This he blames for the most part on Wilson, Goodnow and other Progressive-Era founders of public administration as an academic discipline because of their preference for British Parliamentary rule over the Constitution. Rohr tries to come up with an alternative history of public administration, one that derives from the Framers themselves. pI subtract 1 star because of an analytical flaw in the argument. In warming to his argument, Rohr characterizes Federal bureaucracy as fulfilling the promise of the Constitution because (1) it acts like the Senate in that it deliberates and develops expertise and (2) it acts like the House of Representatives in that, through its sheer size it is more broadly representative of the people than the House could ever be. I have been a federal employee for seven-odd years and I can tell you that the civil service is not a knightly caste or a senatorial order or a broadly representative swathe of the People. Rohr does not take into account the possibility that federal employees, however benevolent, can become a self-aware interest group that tries to attain advantages for itself, or that federal employees really do move within a relatively circumscribed sphere of action relative to their political and judicial masters. pAll the same, it is a very useful and well-done book concluded by a timely plea for a greater sense of the constitution as a well-spring for action by civil servants in their every day work. I recommend it highly.

5 out of 5 stars

Legitimacy for the American Public Service July 27, 2000
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

John Rohr sets out to demonstrate the legitimacy of the American Administrative State. At the time of the writing, 1986, (and all too often today) both academics and politicans loved to portray Public Administrators as illegitimate actors in our politics. John corrects this error, seeing the roots for an active Public Administration in our Founding in both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists camps. He then develops the notion of legitimacy by examining different stages in the evolution of the Administrative State and how the Administrative State even heals defects in our Constitutional design. The book is well written and not only supports the Administrative State convincingly, but also teaches Administrators how to construct normative arguments about the role of professional Public Administrators. A must read for those who practice Public Service as well as those who want a fuller understanding of our Constitutional system.

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