Mirrored Ambivalence: A Sometimes Curmudgeonly Comment on the Relationship Between Organization Theory and Administrative Law

Abstract

I agree with Peter Schuck that we administrative law teachers have much to learn from organization theorists, although (perhaps because) their general perspective often differs from ours. As academic administrative lawyers we tend to be reformers. We attempt to develop institutions and modes of operation that honor administrative law's two fundamental prescriptions: "Be reasonablel" and "Play fairl" Moreover, this prescriptive viewpoint on organizations leads us generally to think of administrative behavior as motivated by the pursuit of various public welfare objectives. We may think that "the public interest" is too vague as a statutory command, but we nevertheless tend to believe that public welfare is the proper objective of public administration.