Public Choice and the Legal Academy

Abstract

In Greed, Chaos, and Governance-a truly good good book about the modem administrative state-Jerry Mashaw employs public choice to analyze a number of the most important topics in public law, including rationality review, delegation of lawmaking power to administrative agencies, administrative process, judicial review, and the separation of powers. Professor Mashaw offers interesting and important insights that should significantly impact the scholarly debate in these areas. Before presenting his wonderfully insightful material, Professor Mashaw devotes the opening two chapters to public choice generally. After criticizing public choice theory in these chapters, Professor Mashaw curiously applies the theory in his subsequent chapters-with every chapter of the book better than the one preceding it. By chapter three, the book has become interesting and provocative. By chapters six and seven, the book has become very good, and the last couple of chapters are truly great.