Tsuda, Kenta;
(2025)
Theories of Bureaucratic Motivation in Administrative Law: Case Studies from the United States National Environmental Policy Act Regime.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
In making and understanding administrative law, one cannot avoid reliance on general explanatory accounts—theories—of how administrative officials make discretionary decisions. It matters which theory among the wide array of theories we embrace, both because a theory’s accuracy bears on whether legal arrangements function as intended, but also because theories are inextricably tied up with our normative commitments to reform or preserve the law. This thesis focuses on theories of bureaucratic motivation. It compares two candidate theories, State Trustee theory and Public Choice theory, asking how well their explanations account for administrative decision making. To answer this question, the thesis considers nine case studies of administrative decisions by American federal officials implementing the United States National Environmental Policy Act. Rather than looking to disconfirm theoretical explanations, it draws on these case studies to refine prior beliefs associated with the two candidate theories, adding greater weight to the likelihood of one or the other explanation. The case studies lead us to update our beliefs directionally in favour of the Public Choice explanation relative to its rival: the Public Choice theoretical explanation has become more likely to be true than it was prior to looking at these examples, and the State Trustee explanation less likely. Regardless of one’s starting point, whether one starts entirely agnostic as to the two rival theories or as a committed partisan of State Trustee or Public Choice theory, the inferential updates derived from the case studies are the same. While this update is incremental and not conclusive, it demonstrates that even with messy, contestable information, we can improve our evaluations of rival theoretical explanations and converge on better understandings of administrative decision making.
Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
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Qualification: | Ph.D |
Title: | Theories of Bureaucratic Motivation in Administrative Law: Case Studies from the United States National Environmental Policy Act Regime |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Laws |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10211695 |
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