The Administrative State is Anti-Constitutional

Expert. Impartial. Democratic.

This is what the Progressives promised us when they crafted the administrative state. Their argument—which remains widely accepted today—is that the complexities of modern life required America to move beyond the antiquated Constitution and to adopt a more modern, scientific, impartial, and responsive form of government.

Is this true? Do we have a more advanced form of government today?

In one of my favorite lessons from “Constitution 101,” Dr. Kevin Portteus explains how and why our new government has failed to achieve its lofty promises, and instead left us with a ruling class that is incompetent, arbitrary, and contemptuous of the rights of Americans. As he explains,

The administrative state today is, rather than the aristocracy that the Progressives hoped it would be, simply an oligarchy. It’s the rule of the few for their own sakes. A distinct and insular class of people, rather than a trained elite—corrupt and distant from the people whom they rule. They’re supported by a coterie of clientele groups who depend upon the modern administrative state for privileges and benefits.

The average person in this system is systematically and fundamentally disenfranchised. Policy is not made for his benefit, and he is largely unable to control the machinery of the state.

In sum, the administrative state is the antithesis of constitutional government and cannot even live up to the expectations of its Progressive founders.

We created a short video—available below—to share Dr. Portteus’s argument with you. And, if you want to learn even more about the origins and nature of our administrative state, you can enroll in Constitution 101 today.