Leadership of Public Bureaucracies or Regulating Toxic Substances

Leadership of Public Bureaucracies: The Administrator as Conservator

Author: Larry D Terry

Bureaucracies and their leadership are often viewed as threats to democratic government. In this provocative volume, Larry D. Terry skillfully demonstrates that, contrary to this view, bureaucracies and their leadership--when guided by constitutional principles--help maintain governmental stability. Drawing on the works of Philip Selznick, Carl Friedrich, and others, Terry departs from public administration orthodoxy and offers a normative theory of bureaucratic leadership called "administrative conservatorship." Bureaucratic leaders are depicted as "conservators" of public bureaucracies, vigorously protecting the integrity of the bureaucracy and, when called upon, adapting to change. Replete with illustrative examples, this engaging book will serve as a valuable resource for students and practitioners of public administration, political science, public policy, and administrative theory. "This book will fill a void in many of the current courses in public administration and will provide rich insights on the cutting edge of the debates surrounding responsibility and leadership. It was a pleasure to read intellectually challenging scholarship. I believe both students and practitioners of public administration will enjoy the work of this fine craftsman." --American Political Science Review "Larry Terry defines leadership in public bureaucracies using the effective metaphor of 'conservator." In laying out the fabric of the argument, Professor Terry provides an implicit defense of the positive role of bureaucracy in public life. . . . This book is a qualitative leap forward in the area of leadership studies. Scholarship on leadership has suffered from a lack of serious theoreticalgroundwork. Terry has created a useful foundation from which reasoned, rather than colloquial, argument can be fashioned." --American Political Science Review "This is a bold and courageous study. Challenging the antigovernmental orthodoxy of the day, author Larry D. Terry does not shrink from arguing that 'public bureaucracies are national treasures' and marshalls impressive evidence to support his claim. His intriguing development of the idea of 'the administrator as conservator' will have a profound effect upon the field of public administration." --John A. Rohr, Virginia Tech "Amid widespread dissatisfaction with government performance and arguments for downsizing or eliminating government bureaucracies, Larry D. Terry argues convincingly for strong bureaucratic leaders who act as stewards of the public trust, conserving vital missions of a democratic government and the institutions that bring them to fruition. . . . [This volume] is a fresh take on the age-old problem of reconciling democracy with bureaucracy, particularly in a field long dominated by simplistic models of what bureaucratic behavior is and ought to be. --Choice "The author argues his case well, providing the reader with many illustrative examples." --International Review of Administrative Sciences

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Terry demonstrates that, far from being threats to democratic government, bureaucracies and their leadership--when guided by constitutional principles--help maintain governmental stability. Drawing on the work of Philip Selznick, Carl Friedrich, and others, Terry offers a normative theory of bureaucratic leadership called "Administrative Conservatorship." Bureaucratic leaders are depicted as "Conservators," protecting the image of the bureaucracy and, when called upon, adapting to change. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

New interesting textbook: Pizza or Perfect Pickle Book

Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law

Author: Carl F Cranor

The proliferation of chemical substances in commerce poses scientific and philosophical problems. The scientific challenge is to develop data, methodologies, and techniques for identifying and assessing toxic substances before they cause harm to human beings and the environment. The philosophical problem is how much scientific information we should demand for this task consistent with other social goals we might have. In this book, Cranor utilizes material from ethics, philosophy of law, epidemiology, tort law, regulatory law, and risk assessment, to argue that the scientific evidential standards used in tort law and administrative law to control toxics ought to be evaluated with the purposes of the law in mind. Demanding too much for this purpose will slow the evaluation and lead to an excess of toxic substances left unidentified and unassessed, thus leaving the public at risk. Demanding too little may impose other costs. An appropriate balance between these social concerns must be found. Justice requires we use evidentiary standards more appropriate to the legal institutions in question and resist the temptation to demand the most intensive scientific evaluation of each substance subject to legal action.

"An important contribution to the interdisciplinary review of public policy, primarily in its examination of the assumptions and implications of contemporary risk assessment practices in judicial and regulatory settings."--Ethics

"The author is uniquely qualified to examine these issues....In addition to developing his own view, the author provides a wealth of historical information about how risk has been managed in our society. Highly recommended for bothacademics who study risk and professionals who perform and implement risk analyses."--Choice

"Strong in its analysis of science, law, and philosophy, Cranor compellingly demonstrates that the amount of science required in public decisions about toxic substances is an important philosophical issue. This book should both help clarify the debate about toxic substance and restore ethical reasoning to its central place of importance in public discourse about the hazards of toxic substances."--Environmental Law Forum

"A detailed and absorbing piece of research that demonstrates the immense practical importance of ethical theories."--Times Higher Education Supplement

"An interesting vantage point from which readers are challenged to reflect on many socially important risk management issues. For that reason, his analysis is useful and well worth careful study."--Risk: Health, Safety & Environment

Table of Contents:

	Introduction: Assessing Toxic Substances Through a Glass Darkly	3
1	The Scientific Background	12
	Predicting Risks from Animal Bioassays	13
	Background	13
	Regulatory Science and Policy Choices	15
	Normative Implications of the Scientific Uncertainties in Risk Assessment	25
	Problems in the Statistics of Human Epidemiological Studies and Animal Bioassays	29
	Discovering Risks	29
	Practical Evidence-Gathering Problems	30
	Theoretical Difficulties	31
	Traditional Practices in Interpreting Epidemiological Studies	39
	An Alternative to Traditional Practices	40
	Clean Hands Science, Dirty Hands Public Policy	40
	Professional Ethics	42
	Public Policy Issues	44
2	Scientific Evidence in the Tort Law	49
	Institutional Background	49
	The Challenge to Present Evidentiary Procedures	55
	Legal Issues	57
	Arguments for the Scientific Standards Test	60
	Arguments Against Competitor Views	60
	Black's Proposal	66
	A Common Conceptual Framework for Evaluating Scientific and Legal Burdens of Proof	71
	An Alternative View	78
3	Joint Causation, Torts, and Administrative Law in Environmental Health Protections	83
	Joint Causation and the Tort Law	85
	Liability Rules for Causation	85
	Proof of Causation	90
	Administrative Law	91
	No Moral or Policy Bars to Regulation when Joint Causation Obtains	91
	The Case for Regulation of Toxic Substances when Joint Causation Obtains	94
	Utilitarian Arguments	95
	Justice Arguments	97
	Other Considerations for Using Administrative Remedies	99
4	Scientific Procedures in Regulatory Agencies	103
	Institutional Background	104
	Major Laws Regulating Carcinogens	104
	Premarket Regulatory Statutes	104
	Postmarket Regulatory Statutes	105
	Procedural Requirements	107
	Substantive Statutory Requirements	107
	Approaches to Risk Assessment in Regulatory Agencies	109
	A Brief History of Agency Use of Risk Assessment	109
	Current Agency Risk Assessment Practices	113
	Two Unacceptable Approaches to Risk Assessment	115
	The Complete and Accurate Science Approach	116
	The Science-Intensive Approach	116
	Shortcomings of Present and Recommended Practices	129
	An Alternative Approach	131
	Coping with Scientific Uncertainty	131
	Mitigating the Demanding Evidentiary Standards of Science	135
	Expediting Risk Assessment	137
	Use of Tabulated TD[subscript 50]s for Most Sensitive Sites and Species	138
	Use of Expedited Linearized Multistage Default Procedures	141
	The Virtues of Expedited Procedures	141
	Making Public Policy on Expedited Risk Assessments Through the Agencies and Courts	147
5	Epistemic and Moral Justification	152
	Epistemic Justification	153
	Moral Justification	157
	Principles Implicit in the Occupational Safety and Health Act	160
	Philosophical Theories of Distribution	163
	Utilitarianism	163
	The Daniels-Rawls Theory of Health Care Protection	168
	The Attraction of Distributively Sensitive Theories	175
	Notes	179
	Appendix A Uncertainties in Carcinogen Risk Assessments	221
	Appendix B Cancer Potency Estimates of CDHS and EPA	222
	Appendix C Relative Risk as a Function of Alpha and Beta Values	225
	Appendix D Statutes Authorizing Regulation of Carcinogens	229
	Appendix E Derivation of TD[subscript 50] Potency Values	230
	Bibliography	231
	Index	243