Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public policy matters. Any expressions of opinion are those of the author. We welcome responses to the views presented here. To join the debate, please email us at info@fedsoc.org.

The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.

Federalist No. 47, James Madison

The Framers of the Constitution could not have imagined the burgeoning size and structure of our government since the rise of regulatory bodies in the 20th century. Even if extensively reformed, can the centralizing nature of the administrative state ever be consistent with the separation of powers?

On November 18, The Federalist Society will host its fourth and final showcase panel of the 2017 National Lawyers Convention titled Administrative Agencies and the Separation of Powers. Composed of distinguished law professors from across the country, the panel will examine the history of the emergence of the administrative state and will comment on the challenges modern administrative law poses to the separation of powers.

The discussion will feature the following panelists:

  • Prof. John Harrison, James Madison Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
  • Prof. Philip Hamburger, Maurice & Hilda Friedman Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
  • Prof. Gary Lawson, Philip S. Beck Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law
  • Prof. Kevin M. Stack, Lee S. and Charles A. Speir Chair in Law, Vanderbilt Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Kevin Newsom, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

Can modern Administrative Law be made consistent with the Framers’ Constitution of 1787? How can elected officials govern and oversee a government of this size in a meaningful way? Is accountability practical?  Does the idea of accountability need rethinking? Join the panel on Saturday, November 18 from 2:45 – 4:30 PM in the State Room of The Mayflower Hotel to entertain these questions and more as the National Lawyers Convention pursues its theme of Administrative Agencies and the Regulatory State.

Online registration ends Monday, November 13. Click here to register. Visit this site to consult the convention schedule.