Preemption Choice
The Theory, Law, and Reality of Federalism's Core Question
Published on 15. December 2008
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-521-88805-9 (ISBN)
Description
This book examines the theory, law, and reality of preemption choice. The Constitution's federalist structures protect states' sovereignty but also create a powerful federal government that can preempt and thereby displace the authority of state and local governments and courts to respond to a social challenge. Despite this preemptive power, Congress and agencies have seldom preempted state power. Instead, they typically have embraced concurrent, overlapping power. Recent legislative, agency, and court actions, however, reveal an aggressive use of federal preemption, sometimes even preempting more protective state law. Preemption choice fundamentally involves issues of institutional choice and regulatory design: should federal actors displace or work in conjunction with other legal institutions? This book moves logically through each preemption choice step, ranging from underlying theory to constitutional history, to preemption doctrine, to assessment of when preemptive regimes make sense and when state regulation and common law should retain latitude for dynamism and innovation.
Reviews / Votes
"Preemption Choice is the best collection of essays ever published on the critical issue of federal preemption of state law. This volume brings together leading scholars articulating a variety of doctrinal and theoretical points. A common theme is that the Bush Administration and the Supreme Court have undermined both federalism and good regulatory policy by heeding business demands for preemption of state common law across whole areas of law. This is must reading for any lawyer---or Supreme Court Justice---interested in federalism, preemption, or regulatory policy."--William Eskridge, John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence, Yale Law School "Amidst the heated political battle over federal preemption, Buzbee's deftly edited volume targets the key (and often overlooked) issues of institutional choice and regulatory design, in contexts ranging from environmental policy to product design and warnings. Buzbee and his collaborators offer formidable theoretical, doctrinal and institutional arguments against federal preemption that push the preemption debate to a higher level."
--Catherine M. Sharkey, Professor of Law, New York University School of Law "...truly eye-opening...a worthwhile investment...accessible...strongly recommended reading for the actual players in the federal government, serving across the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, who make the decisions regarding preemption with state and local officials and their constituents have to live..."
--Staci L. Beavers, California State University San Marcos, The Law and Politics Book Review [Vol. 19 No. 5 (May 2009)]
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
697 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-88805-9 (9780521888059)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2009
1st Edition
Cambridge University Press
€36.99
Available for download
E-Book
12/2008
1st Edition
Cambridge University Press
€31.99
Available for download
Person
William W. Buzbee is a Professor at Emory University School of Law and Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program there. He is a co-author of Environmental Protection: Law and Policy, 5th edition (2007). He has published widely on issues of regulatory federalism, environmental law, and administrative law, and three of his articles have appeared in collections of the best ten articles published in their year regarding environmental or land use law. He has also testified before United States Senate Committees regarding issues of federalism and environmental regulation. Prior to becoming an academic, he practised public interest and private sector law in New York City.
Content
Part I. Federalism Theory, History, and Pre-emption Variables: 1. Preemption and theories of federalism Robert Verchick and Nina Mendelson; 2. From dualism to polyphony Robert A. Schapiro; 3. Preemption and regulatory failure risks David C. Vladeck; Part II. The Layered Government Norm: 4. The State Attorney General and preemption Trevor W. Morrison; 5. Federal floors, ceilings, and the benefits of federalism's institutional diversity William W. Buzbee; Part III. Judicial Treatment and Interpretative Choice: 6. Supreme Court preemption doctrine Chris Schroeder; 7. When Congress goes unheard: savings clauses' rocky judicial reception Sandy Zellmer; 8. Federal pre-emption by inaction Robert L. Glicksman; 9. Process-based preemption Bradford R. Clark; 10. Preemption by federal agency action William Funk; Part IV. Preemption Tales from the Field: 11. The regulation-common law feedback loop in non-preemptive regimes Thomas O. McGarity; 12. Delegated federalism versus devolution: some insights from the history of the water pollution control William L. Andreen; 13. Adaptive environmental federalism David E. Adelman and Kirsten H. Engel; Conclusion: the menu of preemption choice variables William W. Buzbee.