Teri R. Taylor

PAD – Week 1
Dr. Udom
12/15/09

1. It is important for you to understand what administrative law is. Briefly, it is the branch of law that deals with public administration, provideing authority on which administrative agencies operate as well as the limits necessary to control them. Having studied chapter 1 of Cooper, go beyond this basic definition and discuss administrative law broadly and narrowly.

Answer: One will find that “administrative law” has been defined in two senses. On the one hand, the concept has a broad sense that includes “not only administrative powers, their exercise, and remedies but also such subjects as the various forms of administrative agencies; the exercise of and limitations upon regulatory power; the law of the civil service; the acquisition and management of governmental property; public works; and administrative obligations.” Having recognized this broad sense, however, most legal practitioners tend to dismiss that perspective in favor of a narrower conception.

The authors, who work from a narrow view of administrative law, base their definition on a number of specific distinctions that should not be quiclky or uncritically made and one key omission that has become increasingly important.

First, there is the oft-repeated assumption that administrative law is procedural and not substantive. A second distinction on which the narrow definition rests concerns what is sometimes called the internal versus external dichotomy. This view asserts that the proper scope of administrative law is limited to agency actions that affects the rights of private parties. A third distinction that has been employed as the basis for narrow definition of administrative law is the dichotomy between so-called quasi-legislative action and quasi-judicial action. Finally, traditionally administrative law has specifically excluded from