The Investigative State: Regulatory Oversight in the United States

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Daniel Zachary Epstein

   Pages 1-14

3. The American Political History and Jurisprudence Behind Congressional Delegation of the Investigative Power

   • Daniel Zachary Epstein

   Pages 15-53

4. Congressional Delegation of Its Power to Monitor Policy Implementation

   • Daniel Zachary Epstein

   Pages 55-73

5. The Politics of Overseeing the Administrative State

   • Daniel Zachary Epstein

   Pages 75-141

6. Punctuated Delegation and the Politics of Administrative Law

   • Daniel Zachary Epstein

   Pages 143-160

7. Back Matter

   Pages 161-163

   PDF

This book is a timely examination of congressional oversight in the United States, serving as a definitive guide for scholars and political, legal, and media observers seeking to navigate contemporary conflicts between Congress and the White House. Author Daniel Epstein has spent his professional career as a lawyer serving all sides of the regulatory process: he ran investigations for Congress, defended the White House from congressional oversight, and represented individuals, nonprofit news organizations, and entrepreneurs in federal court to fight for regulatory transparency and fairness. Epstein uses historical and observational data to argue that the modern federal bureaucracy did not begin as a regulatory state but as an investigative state. The contemporary picture of Congress having empowered the bureaucracy to set policy through rules is a relatively recent development in the political development of administrative law.  The book’s novel econometric models and historical analyses force a shift in how legal scholars and judges understand delegation, congressional oversight, and agency investigations.

• US Politics
• Congress
• Congressional oversight
• administrative law
• Constitution
• regulation
• oversight
• public policy
• public administration
• legislative politics
• federal bureaucracy

“The fact that Congress delegates (a lot!) to the executive branch is an axiom of modern national politics. In The Investigative State, Daniel Epstein adroitly enhances this narrative by demonstrating that Congress additionally delegates its own monitoring functions to private actors and agency Inspectors General. Who then watches the watchmen’s watchmen? Epstein’s work is an important step in addressing this crucially important question.” (Robert J. McGrath, Associate Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, USA)

“So much scholarly and public attention has been given in recent years to Congress's delegation of policymaking authority to federal agencies. So little attention, however, has been paid to how Congress may be delegating its agency oversight functions as well. The Investigative State sheds important light on the subject and charts a path forward for reform and further study.” (Christophe J. Walker, Professor of Law, University of Michigan, USA)

“This book should be read by anyone who is interested in the way in which the administrative state functions in the U.S. Dr. Epstein develops and explains two important points. First, that congressional oversight should be considered part of the administrative process. Second, that congressional oversight should be viewed broadly to include oversight that has been authorized by Congress in addition to congressional hearings, e.g., oversight by agency inspector generals and oversight by the public and the press through use of the Freedom of Information Act.” (Richard J. Pierce, Jr., Professor of Law, George Washington University, USA)

• Law, St. Thomas University, Austin, USA

  Daniel Zachary Epstein

Daniel Epstein is an Assistant Professor of Law at St. Thomas University in Miami and Director of Trust Ventures LP, USA.