The Chevron Doctrine: Its Rise and Fall, and the Future of the Administrative State

Thomas W. Merrill

Jun 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Mike Chamberlain

About this audiobook

The Constitution makes Congress the principal federal lawmaker. Power has inevitably shifted to the executive branch agencies that interpret laws already on the books and to the courts that review the agencies' interpretations. Since the Supreme Court's 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, this judicial review has been highly deferential: courts must uphold agency interpretations of unclear laws as long as these interpretations are "reasonable." But the Chevron doctrine faces backlash from constitutional scholars and, now, from Supreme Court justices who insist that courts, not administrative agencies, have the authority to say what the law is. Recognizing that Congress cannot help relying on agencies to carry out laws, Merrill rejects the notion of discarding the administrative state. Instead, he focuses on what should be the proper relationship between agencies and courts in interpreting laws, given the strengths and weaknesses of these institutions. Courts are better at enforcing the rule of law and constitutional values; agencies have more policy expertise and receive more public input. The best solution, Merrill suggests, is not of the either-or variety. Neither executive agencies nor courts alone should pick up the slack of our increasingly ineffectual legislature.

About the author

Thomas W. Merrill is the Charles Evans Hughes Professor at Columbia Law School. A former deputy solicitor general in the Department of Justice, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has twice been honored by the American Bar Association for his work on administrative law.

Mike Chamberlain is an actor and voice-over performer, as well as an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. Along with animation and video game characters, Mike performs narration and voices promos for television. He lives with his wife and daughter in Southern California.