Public Administration Commons^™

Preventing Government Shutdowns: Designing Default Rules For Budgets, David Gamage, David Scott Louk

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In nearly every area of law and governance, default policies exist when lawmakers cannot pass new legislation — typically, the status quo simply remains in effect. To its detriment, U.S. budget making at both the state and federal levels lacks effective defaults. If a new budget isn’t passed by year end, there is no budget, and the government shuts down. This lack of defaults, coupled with a dysfunctional era of budgetary politics, has led to a number of recent high-profile and costly state and federal government shutdowns at the state and federal levels.

To date, legal scholarship has failed to …

The Trouble With Tax Increase Limitations, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this symposium essay, we explore the theoretical implications of one particular type of fiscal limitation on state legislatures — namely, special Tax Increase Limitation rules (TILs). We argue that there is no meaningful content to the term “tax increase” as used in TILs. This incoherence allows legislative majorities who wish to do so to circumvent TILs. This fact about TILs, among others, explains the observed inefficacy of TILs in shrinking the size of state governments.

Furthermore, TILs are not just harmless political theater. When combined with other common features of state fiscal constitutions, particularly Balanced Budget Requirements (BBRs), they …

Preventing State Budget Crises: Managing The Fiscal Volatility Problem, David Gamage

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Forty-nine of the U.S. states have balanced budget requirements, and every state acts as though bound by such constraints. These constraints create fiscal volatility - the states must either cut spending or raise taxes during economic downturns, while doing the opposite during upturns. This paper discusses how states should cope with fiscal volatility on both the levels of ordinary politics and of institutional-design policy. On the level of ordinary politics, the paper applies principles of risk allocation theory to conclude that states should primarily adjust the rates of broad-based taxes as their economies cycle, rather than fluctuating public spending. States …

The Changing Shape Of Government, Alfred C. Aman, Steve Savas, Elliott Sclar, Lester Salamon, Charles Sabel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Gillian E. Metzger, Alfred C. Aman Jr., Charles F. Sabel, Lester M. Salamon, E.S. Savas and Elliot D. Sclar participate in panel discussions focusing on the question of how to secure government accountability in the context of the expansion of privatization in government? This panel discusses some of the changes we are seeing in government institutions and in the ways government operates. The panelists describe ways in which the move toward privatization and the expansion of the gray area between public and private is occurring, but also will talk about changes we may see as being particularly useful in dealing …

Book Review. Stein, H. (Ed.), Public Administration And Policy Development: A Case Book, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legal Education And Public Administration, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Waldo, D., The Administrative State: A Study Of The Political Theory Of American Public Administration, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Some Aspects And Implications Of The Report Of The Attorney General's Committee On Administrative Procedure, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Regional Plan Of New York And Its Environs Vol. Ii, Frank Edward Horack

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.