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Full-Text Articles in Law

Public Choice Theory And The Fragmented Web Of The Contemporary Administrative State, Jim Rossi Jan 1998

Public Choice Theory And The Fragmented Web Of The Contemporary Administrative State, Jim Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In the recent book, Greed, Chaos and Governance: Using Public Choice to Improve Public Law (Yale U. Press 1997), Jerry Mashaw addresses the convergence between public choice and administrative law. This review essay summarizes Mashaw's arguments and explores his use of public choice tools. The review suggests that, absent some unifying theoretical perspective for understanding administrative governance outside of public choice method, little more than rampant pessimism or fragmented lessons about the administrative state can be taken.


Common Law Duty, Jim Rossi Jan 1998

Common Law Duty, Jim Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article addresses the implications of retail competition in public utility industries, particularly electricity, for utility service obligations. After tracing the history of the common law duty to serve applicable to public utilities, the efficiency of utility service obligations in the context of rate regulation is explored. Retail competition, many suggest, poses a threat to utility service obligations. However, regulators can minimize the inefficiency of traditional utility service obligations without sacrificing the benefits of retail competition if they pay attention to the structural efficiency of competitive retail markets. The article advocates imposition of basic service obligations on the DisCo and …