Today the most important book in administrative law is one that was written a half-century ago—but not by Kenneth Culp Davis, or Walter Gellhorn, or James Landis, or the other legends of administrative law. The author was a scientist, Thomas S. Kuhn, and the book is The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Everyone interested in administrative law should take a moment to read and reflect upon Kuhn's classic book, especially as the Senate undertakes its confirmation hearing for Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court nomination hearings tend to re-litigate the most recent constitutional and political controversies. Senators asked John Roberts and Samuel Alito about executive power, and then asked Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan about the Second Amendment and about the constitutional rights of corporations. This month, Senators will draw upon recent years' controversies and, I suspect, they will ask Neil Gorsuch about the administrative state.
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