Law Commons^™

Punctuated Equilibrium: A Model For Administrative Evolution, Mark C. Niles

Faculty Articles

The “public choice” model of the administrative state posits a federal regulatory structure that is dominated by the private entities subject to its policy proscriptions. The formidable advantages in resources and focus enjoyed by the these private entities leave governmental units, like agencies and legislatures, with little realistic chance to resist agency capture and avoid implementing the policy objectives of the parties whom they are charged with regulating.

As theoretically powerful and practically descriptive as this model is, there is one significant question for which it fails to provide a satisfying answer—why, if regulated entities enjoy a strangle-hold on the …