Prerequisite: None

Exam Type: One-Day Take-Home

This course will explore the law governing federal administrative agencies, along with related matters of public policy and governing.  Using the first-year “Legislation and Regulation” course as a foundation, this court will cover a variety of more advanced topics, including the structure and function of administrative agencies; the structure and function of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and its relationship to administrative agencies and the President; the relationships of agencies with Congress and the president; the role of cost-benefit analysis; and judicial review of agency action. Also covered will be the problems of capture, bias and prejudice and the role of the public in rule making. Finally, the class will address the law governing other forms of executive action as tools of administrative policymaking, such as issuance of Executive Orders, conditions on federal procurement, approval of information collections pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act, and the President’s use of the bully pulpit.   

A major theme will be how administrative law can enable or constrain flexible, effective and equitable governance.  We will use an examination of the range of executive actions employed to address recent significant public policy challenges, such as the pandemic, climate crisis, income inequality and racial justice, to elucidate the course’s topics.