Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T02:49:02.165Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Comprehension Asymmetries in Administrative Process

from Part II - Application

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2019

Wendy Wagner
Affiliation:
University of Texas School of Law
Get access

Summary

The legitimacy of administrative process is advanced in part by accountability processes that involve robust stakeholder participation. Yet empirical studies reveal that the administrative state is becoming increasingly inhospitable to meaningful engagement by some stakeholders, due in part to the size and complexity of the rulemaking process. This chapter argues that at least part of the blame for the resulting incomprehensible rules can be attributed to the design of administrative process itself. Despite its commitment to accountability and participation, there are few-to-no requirements to ensure that rulemaking deliberations involve cooperative communication. Indeed, there are a number of ways that legal requirements tacitly encourage incomprehensibility in legal filings and communications. After discussing the problems with this legal design and the resultant implications for the goals of administrative process, the chapter concludes with proposals for reform.

Type
Chapter
Information
Incomprehensible!
A Study of How our Legal System Encourages Incomprehensibility, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do About It
, pp. 158 - 203
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×