In this Handbook, distinguished experts in the field of administrative law discuss a wide range of issues from a comparative perspective. The book covers the historical beginnings of comparative administrative law scholarship, and discusses important methodological issues and basic concepts such as administrative power and accountability.

Alfred C. Aman here examines how the U.S. public law system has adapted to change and how the regulatory structures and discourses of the past are being transformed by the global realities of the present. Tracing the evolution of administrative law during the regulatory eras of the New Deal and the environmental period of the 1960s and 70s as well as the current global deregulatory era beginning with the Reagan presidency, he illuminates key trends in the interpretation of constitutional and administrative law. In the course of examining important shifts in administrative law, Aman provides insights into the process of legal change and the discourses that shape our legal order. He also considers why such issues as the constitutionality of administrative agencies once again are serious legal concerns, and he assesses the trend toward increasing executive power over federal administrative agencies. This timely book will be welcomed by legal scholars, political scientists, American historians, policymakers, and other readers interested in the history and future of administrative law and international and domestic environmental regulation.