In 1887, the centennial year of the American Constitution, Woodrow
Wilson wrote that "it is getting to be harder to run a constitution
than to frame one." The context for Wilson's comment was an essay
calling for sound principles of administration that would enable
government officials to "run" a constitution well. Wilson and his
fellow civil-service reformers had a profound influence on the
development of American administrative institutions. Unfortunately,
the reformers paid more attention to the exigencies of running a
constitution than to the Constitution itself. They and their
intellectual progeny developed a theory of administration that was
at odds with the theory of the Constitution. As a result, we find
ourselves living today in what we often call an "administrative
state"--a state seemingly bereft of legitimating principles
grounded in the political thought of the framers of the
Constitution.
In "To Run a Constitution," John A. Rohr takes seriously two
basic premises: d Tocqueville's belief that citizens are corrupted
by ebeying powers they believe to be illegitimate, and the view
that, despite present political sentiment, the administrative state
is here to stay. The book focuses on the important question of
whether the administrative state, an abiding presence in American
politics, can be justified in terms of the American constitutional
tradition.
In addressing this question, Rohr goes beyond considerations of
case law to examine the principles of the Constitution both at its
founding and in its subsequent development. Reying on the normative
character of political "foundings," Rohr analyzes three significant
founding periods: 1) the founding of the Republic, 1787-1795; 2)
the foundin of public administration, 1883-1899; and 3) the
founding of the administrative state, 1933-1941. He judges the last
two foundings by the first in developing his argument that the
modern administrative state can be justified in terms of the kind
of government the framers of the Constitution envisaged.
On the eve of the bicentennial of the Constitution, Rohr's
argument advances a new, normative theory of public administration
that is intended to "support and defend the Constitution of the
United States," in accordance with the oath of office taken by
public administrators. It is critical reading for scholars in the
fields of public administration, political science, and
constitutional studies.
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