Why the Administrative State Is So Important

Gwen Savitz and Marc Roark start Administrative Remedies by explaining why modern government can't function without agencies. From small-town mayors to the FDA’s milk standards, they show how specialization and scale make the administrative state essential.Agencies make democratic promises real. Using analogies—from small-town government to the FDA’s definition of “milk”—they explain how constitutional hierarchy flows from the Constitution to statutes to regulations, and why the Administrative Procedure Act is the “rules behind the rules.”Key Concepts: Administrative State | Expertise vs Generalists | Hierarchy of Law | APA Examples: FDA food definitions and nutrition labelsTakeaway: Agencies are how Congress turns broad powers into daily governance; they’re the specialists who make democratic goals work in practice.