Editor’s Note: Please see, Paul Verkuil and the Case for Professional Government, here and here.
From: Real Clear Policy
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Bucking this line of argument, Paul Verkuil of the Center for American Progress makes a positive case for the administrative state. A former law professor and chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 2010–2015, Verkuil is hardly insensitive to the constitutional issues surrounding administrative law or the many problems and inefficiencies that plague our federal bureaucracy. He insists, however, that the administrative state is the solution, not the problem.
In Episode 3 of “The Future of the Administrative State,” Verkuil discusses his latest book, Valuing Bureaucracy: The Case for Professional Government, in which makes his case for more and better bureaucracy — a revitalization of “professional government.” He argues that whatever its faults (and despite the nearly universal derision it garners) bureaucracy is vital to the modern state, being the most effective means to organize, administer, and carry out the myriad of governmental functions. The reality, as Verkuil sees it, is that “we need bureaucrats to deliver the public services we expect.”