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Law’s Abnegation

From Law’s Empire to the Administrative State
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Adrian Vermeule examines the transformation of law from an imperial authority into a body that deliberately defers to the administrative state. Through internal legal reasoning, judges and lawyers have accepted that administrative agencies hold significant power to make policy decisions, interpret statutes, and define their own limits. This shift is justified by agencies’ technical expertise and democratic legitimacy, especially as the state faces complex challenges such as climate change, terrorism, and biotechnology. Law's Abnegation argues that the judiciary has voluntarily stepped back from power, marking a profound change in the role of law.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for legal scholars, law students, practitioners of administrative law, and anyone interested in constitutional theory and the evolving relationship between law and government administration.

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Adrian Vermeule argues that the arc of law has bent steadily toward deference to the administrative state, which has greater democratic legitimacy and technical competence to confront issues such as climate change, terrorism, and biotechnology. The state did not shove lawyers and judges out of the way; they moved freely to the margins of power.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Ronald Dworkin once imagined law as an empire and judges as its princes. But over time, the arc of law has bent steadily toward deference to the administrative state. Adrian Vermeule argues that law has freely abandoned its imperial pretensions, and has done so for internal legal reasons.

In area after area, judges and lawyers, working out the logical implications of legal principles, have come to believe that administrators should be granted broad leeway to set policy, determine facts, interpret ambiguous statutes, and even define the boundaries of their own jurisdiction. Agencies have greater democratic legitimacy and technical competence to confront many issues than lawyers and judges do. As the questions confronting the state involving climate change, terrorism, and biotechnology (to name a few) have become ever more complex, legal logic increasingly indicates that abnegation is the wisest course of action.

As Law's Abnegation makes clear, the state did not shove law out of the way. The judiciary voluntarily relegated itself to the margins of power. The last and greatest triumph of legalism was to depose itself.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Law's Abnegation is praised for its rigorous, lawyerly interpretation of the administrative state and the internal coherence of legal doctrines. Jerry L. Mashaw of Yale Law School highlights the book’s revealing analysis of administrative law’s core commitments, while David Dyzenhaus from the University of Toronto commends its careful and imaginative argument that the administrative state operates within constitutional logic, showing judges’ appropriate self-limitation. The book offers valuable insights for both critics and supporters of administrative governance.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674971448

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 07 January 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: Harvard University Press

Illustration: 1 table

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 272

About the Author

Adrian Vermeule is Ralph S. Tyler, Jr., Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. His many books include Law’s Abnegation: From Law’s Empire to the Administrative State (Harvard) and The Constitution of Risk.

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