Description
Book SynopsisConfronts 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.
Trade ReviewThe 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, UCLA School of Law, and author of
Constitutional Coup: Privatization's Threat to the American Republic
