Comparative Broadcast Licensing Procedures and the Rule of Law: A Fuller Investigation

Professor Botein examines the validity of Professor Fuller\u27s widely read but seldom criticized theory that traditional administrative adjudication is unsuited to resolve certain kinds of social tasks, which Fuller had labeled polycentric problems. Professor Botein focuses upon Professor Fuller\u27s example of the FCC\u27s comparative licensing procedure as a problem unsuited to adjudication. Taking as his starting point Professor Fuller\u27s criticism of the FCC -- a criticism Fuller never tested against the Commission\u27s actual operations -- Professor Botein examines Fuller\u27s theory of polycentricity by analyzing its contents, applying it to concrete situations, and exploring whether there exists any alternatives better than the Commission\u27s present adjudicatory procedure