A Comparison of the Cultures and Performance of a Modern Agency and a Nineteenth-Century Agency

Authors

Richard J. Pierce Jr

Document Type

Book Part

Publication Date

2017

Status

Working

Abstract

In this chapter of a book dedicated to the work of Jerry Mashaw, Professor Pierce compares the culture and performance of a nineteenth century agency with the culture and performance of a modern agency with an analogous mission.

He concludes that the Board of Supervising Inspectors saved thousands of lives and millions of dollars by issuing scores of rules in just a few years that reduced dramatically the harm caused by the largest source of transportation accidents in the nineteenth century—steamship boiler explosions. By contrast, he notes that it took the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) almost twenty years to issue the only rule that was effective in reducing the largest source of transportation deaths and injuries in the twentieth century—second collisions with automobiles.

He attributes those stark differences in performance to the different cultures of the two agencies. The Board had no lawyers on its payroll, and its actions were not subject to judicial review. NHTSA was dominated by lawyers, and its actions were subject to judicial review.

GW Paper Series

GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 2017-87; GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2017-87

SSRN Link

https://ssrn.com/abstract=3088049

Recommended Citation

Pierce, Richard J., A Comparison of the Cultures and Performance of a Modern Agency and a Nineteenth-Century Agency (2017). Richard J. Pierce, Jr., A Comparison of the Cultures and Performance of a Modern Agency and a Nineteenth-Century Agency, in ADMINISTRATIVE LAW FROM THE INSIDE OUT: ESSAYS ON THEMES IN THE WORK OF JERRY L. MASHAW 322 (Nicholas R. Parrillo ed., 2017).; GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 2017-87; GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2017-87. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=