Professor Chad Squitieri had an essay published in Law & Liberty on January 9. The essay applies the work of St. John Henry Newman to constitutional law and the administrative state.

Law & Liberty
Is the Administrative State a "Faithful Development"?
By: Chad Squitieri
Date: January 9, 2023

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Vermeule contrasts his theory of constitutionalism (including its account of the administrative state) with progressive constitutionalism. Both theories seek to develop principles over time. But for Vermeule, progressive constitutionalism goes too far in that it leads to both “genuine” and “corrupt” developments. Vermeule thus acknowledges a need for “an account of which developments are genuine and which are corrupt.” For such an account, he turns to St. John Henry Newman’s Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine.

In that essay, Newman articulates seven “notes” for distinguishing genuine “developments” from “corruptions.” Vermeule contends that an application of these notes demonstrates that the administrative state is a faithful development of the principles underlying “our law.” But Vermeule’s defense of that position is, respectfully, unconvincing—especially if “our law” includes the Constitution of the United States. The shortcomings in his defense stem in part from his disclaiming any need to “parse through” Newman’s seven notes “individually, because their essential aim and thrust is clear enough.”

In this essay, I offer a closer parsing of Newman’s seven notes of the sort that Vermeule avoids. 
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Click here to view the essay.