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David S. Arnold
Comment on Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., "Restoring the Rule of Law to Public Administration: What Frank Goodnow Got Right and Leonard White Didn't," and Donald P. Moynihan, "Our Usable Past': A Historical Contextual Approach to Administrative Values," PAR 69(5)
I read the articles on administrative law by Professors Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., and Donald R Moynihan in the September/October 2009 issue ?? Public Administration Review with great interest and appreciation. Both views on the standing of administrative law within the field of public administration are cogently expressed and well written.
Although I am on Professor Lynn's side of the fence, so to speak, I want to mention specifically Professor Moynihan's statement on page 817: "If there is inattention to law in professional training, it seems to be largely a function of a lack of demand among students, rather than an inadequate supply of appropriate classes." The answer is simple: make a course in administrative law mandatory and have professors teach it who understand how it affects public management decisions of all kinds. In local government, the area I am most familiar with, administrative law is in the background in decisions on code enforcement, police arrest/nonarrest actions, eminent domain, zoning variances, and personnel testing standards, among others.
Which leads to some nostalgia about my student days at Maxwell in 1942-43. Our required course in administrative law was taught by Spencer Parratt, who had both a law degree and a PhD from the University of Chicago. He was a dynamic and exuberant teacher. One of his great interests then was the uses and abuses of administrative discretion. He vividly described specific examples from the New York State health department, the New York City police department, and other agencies at all levels of government. For ALL OF us students, it was truly real-world exposure.
Overall, Professor Parratt brought administrative law to life. He showed us how administrative law sets boundaries for the administrative state and defines due process in governmental actions. So, too, would well-taught administrative law courses be appreciated by students.
Martin Lodge
London School of Economics
Kai Wegrich
Hertie School of Governance
Letter to the Editor of Public Administration Review in Response to a Recent Symposium on Financial Regulatory Reform
The financial crisis...