Jacob's Column: How the Government Actually Works and Why it Matters

Adjudicating Federal Power: Administrative Law Judges

Administrative law judges are not an inevitable or necessary part of the federal government. However, at this point they play a crucial role in holding the federal government accountable. How we decide who they are, what procedural rules proceedings before them follow, and what power they have to rectify decisions are all important in shaping what the federal government does and does not do.

— Jacob Brown

Arjun NarayanMarch 19, 2023

Guiding our Governmental Reforms: How The Constitution Can Be Amended

The U.S. Constitution shapes our society for better and for worse. It is the document from which, at least in theory, the power of the federal government flows. As a result, what it contains is of profound importance to us all, as is how we change what it contains.

— Jacob Brown

ColumnArjun NarayanFebruary 20, 2023AY 2022-2023, Jacob Brown

Governing our Crisis Response: National Emergencies and their Spotty Regulation

We are in a state of national emergency! Or, more precisely, 42 separate states of national emergency. States of national emergency have become ubiquitous in the modern era. With the use of national emergency declarations to garner additional authority so common in the modern era, it is worth understanding just how they work and what oversight over them there is.

— Jacob Brown

Melody StainbrookNovember 7, 2022

Reining in the Administrative State: The Administrative Procedure Act

The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) plays a substantial role in constraining what a presidential administration can accomplish. Due to its breadth, the APA has wide-reaching implications for what the federal government does.

— Jacob Brown

Melody StainbrookOctober 23, 2022