The Fourth Branch

Reconstructing the Administrative State for the Commercial Republic

by Brian J. Cook

Series: Studies in Government and Public Policy

Sales Date: April 21, 2021

288 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in

Hardcover
9780700632077
Published: April 2021

$49.95

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eBook
9780700632084
Published: April 2021

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In The Fourth Branch: Reconstructing the Administrative State for the Commercial Republic Brian J. Cook confronts head-on the accumulating derangements in the American constitutional system and how the administrative state has contributed to the problems, how it has been a key force in addressing the troubles, and how it can be reformed to serve the system better. The Fourth Branch is anchored in a powerful theory of regime design that guides a freshly comprehensive account of the historical development of successive political economies and administrative states in the United States and provides the normative grounding for more far-reaching constitutional change. Cook calls for a decisive, pattern-breaking response in the form of a constitutional redesign to accommodate a fourth branch, an administrative branch. The Fourth Branch shows that the creation of a fourth administrative branch is consistent with the history and traditions of American constitutionalism. Far more than that, however, the addition of a fourth branch could enhance American constitutionalism by making the separation of powers work better, increasing the likelihood that deliberative lawmaking will occur, strengthening civic capacity and public engagement in governance, and improving both accountability and coordination in the administrative state.

By stressing that the administrative state in its current form is both biased toward business and seriously undermined by subordination to the three constitutional branches, Cook contends that neither abandoning the administrative state nor more deeply constitutionalizing or democratizing it within the existing constitutional structure is sufficient to fully legitimate and capitalize on administrative power to serve the public interest. Rather, Cook argues that it is imperative to confront the reality that a fundamental reordering of constitutional arrangements is necessary if the American commercial republic is to recover from its growing disorder and progress further toward its aspirations of liberal justice and limited but vigorous self-rule.

“The Fourth Branch is a bold intervention into current debates about the legitimacy of the American administrative state. Cook invites us to think beyond the constraints of eighteenth-century political theory and finally place government agencies on firm republican footing. The argument is both strikingly original in its analysis and deeply grounded in research in public administration, political science, and public law.”—Blake Emerson, assistant professor of law, UCLA School of Law, and author of The Public’s Law: Origins and Architecture of Progressive Democracy
“This unflinching call for a formal reordering of constitutional authority seeks to reclaim the value of an administrative arm with integrity of its own to a commercial republic. Acutely attuned to the degraded state in which we find administration today, Cook jolts our faith in the adaptability of the three-branch design of American government and dispels the illusion that we can accommodate administrative authority by simply jerry-rigging the Constitution of the framers.”—Stephen Skowronek, Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political Science, Yale University
“Brian Cook’s new book is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of the American democratic republic. He offers a provocative reconception of our ‘working constitution’ that formally recognizes American public administration as an integral part of our governing order, boldly proposing for it a new institutional status as the fourth branch of government. His work is thoroughly researched and cogently argued. If nothing else, it will get readers thinking hard about our present dilemmas and the prospect of regime failure.”—Richard T. Green, author of Alexander Hamilton’s Public Administration
“Brian Cook’s The Fourth Branch is a monumental work of interdisciplinary learning, analytical rigor, and real-work relevance. Its clear-eyed characterization of the United States as a ‘commercial republic’ and its compelling, indeed urgent, call to elevate the administrative state to the status of a fourth constitutional branch make Cook’s project a must-read for scholars, policymakers, and jurists alike.”—Jon Michaels, professor of law, University of California, Los Angeles, and author of Constitutional Coup: Privatization’s Threat to the American Republic
“The Fourth Branch offers an ambitious prescription for improving American government. In these largely cynical times, Professor Cook makes a strong case for how the principles that first animated the administrative state can be reinvigorated to provide a more optimistic and lasting way forward.”—Louis J. Virelli III, professor of law, Stetson University College of Law, and author of Disqualifying the High Court: Supreme Court Recusal and the Constitution