Administrative Law, 1789-1989 

Executive Department and Agency Rules and Regulations

While Congress makes laws, it is up to the Executive branch, the President and his agencies, to implement and enforce the law. The detailed specifications for implementing laws are formulated and defined in federal rules and regulations. Before 1935 each agency developed its own rules and regulations in-house and were not required to distribute or make them available to other agencies or the public. Without a central filing or notification system it became increasingly difficult to determine what rules or regulations were in place. The 1935 Federal Register Act required the publication of all Executive Orders, Proclamations, agency rules and regulations and other notices in the daily Federal Register. In addition, in the absence of a complete record of agency rules and regulations, the 1935 Act required each executive agency to prepare and file a complete compilation of all rules and regulations still in force or used by the agency to conduct its business. The compilation was arranged by subject or title and became the first codification of the rules and regulations, i.e., Code of Federal Regulation (CFR). The CFR has been revised annually since 1949.

Brief bibliography:

Morehead, Joe. Introduction to United States Government Information Sources. Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1999. (Government Publications Reference ZA5055.U6 M67 1999)

Schmeckebier, Laurence F. and Roy B. Eastin. Government Publications and their Use. Brookings Institution, 1969. (Government Publications Reference Z1223.Z7 S3 1969)

Executive Department and Agency Administrative Decisions

Federal regulatory agencies not only issue rules and regulations, they apply and interpret regulations through written reports, decisions, letter rulings, orders, and advisory opinions. These decisions are not conveniently or centrally published in the Federal Register or Code of Federal Regulations, but constitute another series of quasi-judicial publications issued by the various agencies in department compilations or series. Some agencies have a long history of published decisions such as the Attorneys General since 1852,  the Patent and Trademark Office since 1869, the Comptroller General since 1880, the Internal Revenue Service since 1898, the Treasury Department since 1899, and the Federal Trade Commission since 1915. These are too numerous and varied to list here. For a selective list of historical compilations of executive and independent agency decisions see Maclay, Veronica. "Selected Sources of United States Agency Decisions," Government Publications Review 16, no 3 (May/June 1989):271-301 and "Administrative Regulations and Departmental Rulings," in Schmeckebier, Laurence F. and Roy B. Eastin. Government Publications and their Use. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1969, pp. 300-329.