The Birth of the Administrative State: Where It Came From and What It Means for Limited Government

Publication Date: November 2007

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Ronald J. Pestritto

Research Area: Government

Keywords: Thought; constitution; first principles; Progressive-Era

Type: Other

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The ideas that gave rise to what is today called "the administrative state" are fundamentally at odds with those that gave rise to our Constitution. The original, Progressive-Era architects of the administrative state understood this quite clearly, as they made advocacy of this new approach to government an important part of their direct, open, comprehensive attack on the American Constitution.