A Civic Republican Justification for the Bureaucratic State

Scholars have debated the legitimacy of the modern administrative state since its rise in the early twentieth century. In this Article, Professor Seidenfeld argues that the political theory of civic republicanism, with its emphasis on citizen participation in government and deliberative decisionmaking, provides the best justification for the American bureaucracy. Beginning with an analysis of civic republican theory, he notes that it promises greater citizen involvement in political decisionmaking, yet at the same time threatens to increase government power. Professor Seidenfeld finds that the current regime of administrative law neither allows for the full realization of civic republicanism\u27s potential nor guards adequately against its dangers. He therefore suggests political and legal reforms applicable to the three constitutional branches of government and the bureaucracy itself