About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

221 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. vii (1942)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0221 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD SEEING every day new things which the state ought to do, the next thing is to see clearly how it ought to do them. So wrote Woodrow Wilson in 1887, the year in which the Interstate Commerce Commission was created. The reason for this volume could not be better epitomized. Nor, from the viewpoint of the present context, could Wilson's observation have been made at a more apt moment, for with the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission -prototype of the modern regulatory agency-government by commission was inaugurated in national administration. The event thus marks the most signifi- cant early stage of a development whose modern manifestations are so far reach- ing that they can be caught up only in sweeping phrases: the administrative state; administrative absolutism; the managerial revolution; the administra- tive process. Time. need not be spent in probing the precision of such coinage. It at least is symptomatic of a real con- dition: the locus of power in organized government is on the move, and the direction of the shift is unmistakably toward administrative agencies. The prime functions of government, viewed as a process, are to determine policy and to apply it in individual in- stances, including those that are contro- versial. Administrative agencies have become ascendant because they have been virtually constituted as micro- governments within their spheres of operation, exercising the totality of gov- erning functions without the hindrance of the doctrine of separation of powers. Great segments of policy control have passed from legislative into administra- tive hands. The development of admin- istrative legislation has been paralleled by the growth of administrative adjudi- cation. The result is that an adminis- trative organ fashions, within only the vii broadest limits, the policy of regulation, administers it in uncontested cases, and adjudicates the incident controversies. Further, its actions tend to be final, sta- tistically if not legally, since the great number of administrative determina- tions go unquestioned. This is the modus operandi of modern regulation, ever more widely employed in the states as well as in the Federal Government. Since 1887, the new things under- taken by the state are legion. It is a commonplace of contemporary observa- tion that private enterprise is widely encompassed by regulatory control. In- creasingly, the extent of this control amounts to public management. The potentialities of this development heav- ily underscore the need to see clearly how the state's control should be exer- cised. The war heightens the force of this conclusion. The complete mobilization of the Nation's powers means, of course, direction of the entire economy by the government. In the postwar era, it is probable that the tide of control will not recede as far as it has risen. Wartime urgencies, furthermore, are sharply accentuating the trend toward administrative ascendancy. While there can be little doubt that the method of administrative regulation is here to stay, it is equally certain that we have not yet seen clearly how it is to be perfected. Basically, the problem is to effect a so- cially desirable balance between efficient regulation in the public interest, and a fair regard for the rights of those whose activities are controlled. Search for a solution has already en- gendered a considerable and controver- sial literature. The issues have recently received much public attention, culmi- nating in Congressional action upon the Administration's reorganization pro- gram and Congressional approval of the

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most