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

73 Admin. L. Rev. 609 (2021)
Deliberative Rulemaking: An Empirical Study of Participation in Three Agency Programs

handle is hein.journals/admin73 and id is 653 raw text is: DELIBERATIVE RULEMAKING: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF PARTICIPATION IN THREE AGENCY PROGRAMS WENDY WAGNER,* WILLIAM WEST,** THOMAS MCGARITY,*** AND LISA PETERS**** Democratic deliberation and reason-giving arefundamental to ensuring the legitimacy of the administrative process, yet whether and how agencies incorporate these values into the development of nues is hotly contested. Some maintain that the public notice-and-comment required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is largely window-dressing for a preordained outcome. Others take a more generous view, arguing that agency rules are informed by public comment, even while acknowledging that participation is less-than-inclusive. Our empirical study of rulemakings in three areas from the early 1980s to 2009 (N=125 rules) finds that agencies took attentive stakeholders seriously and engaged with them in innovative ways that went well byond the APA's minimum requirements. Each of the three agencies provided opportunities for dialogue with interested parties throughout the rulemaking process. 7hey did so, however, in very diferent ways that have important normative implications. The deliberative processes developed by the Environmental * Richard Dale Endowed Chair, University of Texas School of Law. Contact: WWagner@law.utexas.edu. This study was supported by NSF GRANT SES-1023571 and a University of Texas Special Research Grant. We are grateful to Mary Jane Angelo, Stuart Benjamin, Neil Eisner, Blake Emerson, Adam Finkel, Chris Havasy, Cornelius Kerwin, Ron Levin, David Michaels, Nicholas Parrillo, Dick Pierce, Connor Raso, Glen Staszewski, and to the participants at the Empirical Research on Administrative Law Conference hosted by Susan and Jason Yackee at Wisconsin Law School and the Power in the Administrative State Roundtable hosted by Brian Feinstein for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. We also thank Daniel Lyons and Matt Spitzer for illuminating conversations about our general project. Finally, we are especially grateful to our many able research assistants for their invaluable help in collecting the data for this study. ** Professor and Sara Lindsey Chair, The Bush School of Government & Public Service, Texas A&M University *** Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair in Administrative Law, University of Texas School of Law **** Reference and Scholarly Communications Librarian, Case Western Reserve University School of Law 609

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