Exploring Administrative Law: A Student’s Comprehensive Guide

Student’s Guide to Administrative Law

Administrative law is a body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. These agencies are established by statute to exercise specific sets of powers and are designed to carry out law-making, law-enforcing, and adjudicative duties. Generally considered as part of the bigger administrative state, which also includes the legislative and executive branches, administrative law stands apart from constitutional law, criminal law, and civil law. It plays a vital role in ensuring that the various powers distributed in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches function in tandem within the complex system of government. The cornerstones of administrative law are the rules and regulations passed both by administrative agencies and legislative bodies. These rules , by design, are more flexible than those of other bodies of law. In order to provide a means to govern dynamic, shifting populations, things like time limits and strict rigid definitions of terms are often replaced with more open-ended provisions that allow the governing body room for interpretation. In that vein, administrative law differs from other branches of law in its ability to adapt to changing circumstances over time. The use of administrative law dates back to the Colonial era where governors would unilaterally issue orders in order to enact changes to laws. Today, administrative law is used not only to create laws and enforce them but also to determine how people affected by laws and regulations may challenge or appeal what they consider to be unfair government action.

Core Principles of Administrative Law Textbooks

Administrative law is a fascinating part of the law, one that reaches to almost every industry and intimately reviews how the executive branch performs its duties. Now that the publishers have figured out that students want this type of book, it’s possible to find some administrative law textbooks.
Most administrative law textbooks are organized as one would expect. First you get a general overview of what administrative law is. This includes topics such as legitimacy (is it constitutional), the differences between administrative law and other types of law such as common and statutory law, the powers, duties, and jurisdiction of administrative agencies, and administrative procedure. As with all books, the detail given varies widely among different authors.
Rule-making is generally given a chapter all its own (sometimes two) so that the nuances of how the administrative agencies develop rules and regulations within the bounds of law can be more thoroughly discussed. Adjudication follows the same format. What is very helpful to the student is a discussion of the judicial process through which the Executive Branch’s decisions are subject to a review so that an inappropriate agency decision doesn’t survive.
Every student wants to understand where administrative agencies get their power from, how the various types of roles these agencies play can create conflicts of interest and other problems. Administrative Agencies also face scrutiny from the people they are supposed to serve. These concepts are also examined in virtually every administrative law textbook.
Some administrative law textbooks delve deeper into the various mechanisms of state and federal administrative law. These texts can discuss the state administrative law process, a topic examined in some depth by law professors or administrators wishing to analyze their own state’s process. Other times, these books examine the role of administrative law in states with a consolidated administrative law system. As with any other field of law, these books can be very interesting and fascinating.

Administrative Law Textbooks and Authors

Scholars have long attempted to refer to administrative law "conceivably possible ‘law’ with an order of magnitude greater than a rule or a statute." (Stephen F. Ross, The Administrative Procedure Act and the Reformation of American Public Law 8 (1994).) "Judicial and legislative branches have little direct interaction with the tens of thousands of unelected administrative officials who make enormous quasi-legislative, quasi-adjudicative decisions that effect tens of millions of individuals and multibillion dollar private industries." (Gary Lawson, Federal Administrative Law 7 (2008).) Without a handbook on how to understand administrative law, students and practitioners would be lost in the ever-complex administrative procedures. The following are some of the most popular administrative law textbooks and authors:
Administrative Law in America By: James Conlan, Robert R. Moyer The well-respected administrative law text Administrative Law in America presents the subject in its historical context and shows how it came to be. The book also features cases and policy questions that illustrate the role that federal administrative agencies play in America today.
Principles of Administrative Law By: Keith Werhan This book provides comprehensive coverage of this complex area of law — from its historical development to the procedural rules and the recent Supreme Court decision in United States v. Mead Corp. The book covers every aspect of administrative law in a concise and accessible manner. It contains over one hundred judicial opinions and more than fifteen carefully crafted hypotheticals. This Second Edition reflects substantive organizational changes, along with incorporated changes in Administrative Law following the 2008 reauthorization of the Miscellaneous and Regulatory Programs of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. An excellent supplement for a casebook, Principles of Administrative Law is also used by many professors and is widely regarded as the best introductory text for beginning students in administrative law courses.
Federal Administrative Law By: Gary Lawson Unlike other texts, which presume that the reader has prior knowledge of the APA, Lawson’s Federal Administrative Law starts from the statutory language itself, assuring a uniform basis of understanding. Lawson believes that a close textual reading of the APA, accompanied by an understanding of the Supreme Court’s modern administrative law jurisprudence, exposes the truth about the APA and its relationship to the Constitution as well as to the non-APA body of law that governs administrative process. This new text is clear, accurate, and objective, avoiding the typical student textbook pitfalls of inaccuracy, inconsistency, obfuscation, and over-simplification.

Selecting an Administrative Law Textbook

Choosing the Right Administrative Law Textbook
Navigating the textbooks for a typical upper level administrative law course can be quite challenging for a first time student. As with any area of law, books and study aids are available at all different levels of sophistication and depth. The student who has had a course in constitutional law or state and local government law has a slight advantage over the student who has not, because the former will have some familiarity with judicial and executive branch issues and the potential for regulatory actions to rise to but not reach the concern of the courts. For the student familiar with these areas of the law, an intermediate or advanced level administrative law text may be perfectly appropriate. The student seeking a more fundamental introduction should peruse the following list for the book which best suits his or her needs.
5115 GOV PUB Administrative Law — This book is the most highly recommended administrative law textbook among students as a good resource. It can, however, be seen as less thorough than some other books. 5115 is good for someone taking a class or reading on administrative law for the first time and has the added benefit of being readable without a fair degree of legal sophistication. The author presents cases critical of state or federal agency decisions in the context of explaining the characteristics of the various agencies and the law governing their decisions.
Casebook — Administrative Law: Agency Action in Legal and Policy Making by Dale E. McClintock and David H. Rosenbloom (Institute of Governmental Service Press, 1st ed, 1989). This book is neither too technical nor too basic. The author includes interesting and relevant footnotes that suggest further avenues for study. I am not aware of newer editions of this book, so readers of earlier editions should check that the material is still current.
Administrative Law: A Very Short Introduction by Brian B. Borges (Oxford University Press, 2009). This 164 page overview is suitable for the first time administrative law reader . The author discusses the relationship between administrative law and natural justice, the nature of rules versus principles in administrative law, rulemaking and the role of the courts that hear agency appeals.
Administrative Law in Ireland by Malcolmson, McMahon, & Quinn (Round Hall Press, 2003). This is a very complete text written for both the novice and the experienced reader. While the presumptions and biases of the author are easily understood, they do not detract from this highly useful book.
State and Federal Administrative Law by Alan E. Glines (Harvard Law School Library Publications, 1998). This is a straightforward, no nonsense look at administrative law from a scholar with two decades of experience in the field. While not comprehensive, this book is a good guide to the literature of administrative law. The author provides an extremely useful summary of the leading administrative law treatises.
The Principles of Administrative Law by Paul Craig (Oxford University Press, 1994). This book is heavily laden with footnotes and references to other works by the author and others, making it invaluable to the experienced reader who is seeking to take a more comprehensive approach to the study of administrative law. Less suited to the first time reader, The Principles of Administrative Law is the book for one interested in a closer look at the author’s views.
Administrative Law: The Unwritten Constitution by Peter Cane (Oxford University Press, 2010). This is deans’ favorite among UK texts. Peter Cane is one of the foremost administrative law scholars in the world. His reviews of legislation effecting government power is outstanding.
Administrative Law: Text and Materials by Peter Cane (Oxford University Press, 2010). Cane’s highly praised Administrative Law: Text and Materials from 2007 has been updated Stephen R. Anderson as co-author. This new textbook retains the same excellent coverage of the subject while expanding the sections on the legislative powers of Parliament and the different aspects of legal personality. The addition of Anderson as co-author is a welcome one and strengthens the book’s already appreciated authority.

Administrative Law Study Strategies

When it comes to hitting the books for administrative law, it is important to know which portions of the text are most likely to appear on the exam. Regardless of who the professor is, the textbook used is a good gauge of what you should be focusing on, studying and ultimately answering in your final exam. In other words, if it’s not mentioned in the book, don’t waste your time memorizing it. When it comes to administrative law, ensure that you have read your book and understand all key terms and the broad terms of constitutional law. This is where many students fall down. Be familiar with the constitutional principles enshrined in the Constitution Act of 1867. Understand the democratic principle of the rule of law. Be able to define delegating authority and other relevant terms. Make sure that you understand what judicial review means and how it differs from natural justice and procedural fairness. Once you’ve gone through the book and have a solid understanding of the delegated authority, public officers and agencies, sovereign immunity and liability of the Crown, understand what you don’t know and find material that can help you master administrative law. Big study aids such as Wolters Kluwer franchise "Insights" books, compound summaries and practice exams can all be good resources to fine-tune your understanding and knowledge of the laws associated with administrative law and how they specifically fit and apply to real-world scenarios.

Resources Beyond Administrative Law Textbooks

While textbooks are the foundational resources for any study of Administrative Law, they are not the only ones. One can turn to other scholarly resources in print or online. These resources could be found in law journals or law reviews published in different universities, and they could also come from other scientific journals – as there are many interrelations between administrative law and other fields, such as public administration.
Other scholars, professors and academics around the world, study and research on administrative law, and oftentimes publish their findings through essays, papers and articles that could be found in magazines and journals in every part of the world. Of course, in each region, you may find experts from universities and educational institutions from your region or state, which may also have their own publications on administrative law.
Some journals focusing on global administrative law that could be very interesting for students and even academics include:
Global Administrative Law Series Published by The Dean Rusk Center for International Law.
The Global Administrative Law Series publishes articles, essays and reviews on this exciting and transformative area of public law, covering the interests of the author’s governments, international organizations, agencies and joint commissions. It is a periodical series published by the Dean Rusk Center for International Law at the University of Georgia School of Law.
A great resource to support university course syllabi in Administrative Law. The Global Administrative Law Series brings together the best recent scholarship on the subject. Essays, articles, book reviews, and overviews of the literature provide readers with an essential resource in this emerging field.
The European Union Law Review Published by European Communities Studies Association.
European Union Law Review is the journal of the European Communities Studies Association, the leading interdisciplinary academic association in the United States of Europe. Founded in 1990 , it is dedicated to the scholarly analysis of the development and functioning of the European Union and its member states.
The Journal of the Old Bailey Online (1674-1913) Published by Harvard Law School – Criminal Justice Policy Program.
The Journal of the Old Bailey Online offers readers valuable insights into the workings of the judicial system in eighteenth and nineteenth-century London. First-hand accounts of trial proceedings are the product of careful examination of texts of the Old Bailey Proceedings, research on convicted criminals’ background histories, and extensive archival research. Emory Law School Professor Emeritus Bernard J. Hibbitts’ insights add invaluable context to our understanding of the texts and historical background on which we base our scholarship through The Journal of the Old Bailey Proceedings.
Review of European Administrative Law Published by Otto Schmidt (Berlin, Germany).
The Review of European Administrative Law (REALaw) publishes contributions on recent developments in European and domestic administrative law. The journal’s Authors have legal training but are also active in other scholarly disciplines, including political science, sociology, technology assessment and economics. REALaw also discusses non-European administrative law issues in that it serves as a platform for distinguished non-European colleagues (notably from the United States and Australia) to share their knowledge. REALaw thus sees itself at the interface between EU and national administrative law and its neighbouring disciplines, offering fresh theoretical insights and empirical data.
The journal provides its readers with a profound insight into the links between law and the world in which we live in. This is powered by the fact that many of the Rules and Legal Institutions of different countries are interconnected, as they were influenced by each other throughout history by trial and error. The way Administrative Law is built in most countries is to tackle the challenges that they face at a point in time. They are built to adapt to the changes that occur in society, regardless if they are economic, social or technological. That is the beauty of being an Administrative Lawyer. You are at the helm of the ship and you can witness, first-hand, the way the rules you studied cascade into practice and shape people’s lives.