Book Review: Alexander Hamilton’s public administration

• Published date: 01 May 2020
• Date: 01 May 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/0275074020904457
• Author: Kevin J. Burns
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

American Review of Public Administration

2020, Vol. 50(4-5) 438 –444

© The Author(s) 2020

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Book Reviews

In Federalist 9, Alexander Hamilton promised that the

American republic would flourish and prove lasting due to

the modern “science of politics.” The United States had

embraced the “great improvement[s]” of this new science,

creating “models of a more perfect structure” which would

allow the country to maintain both liberty and stability.

Richard Green’s Alexander Hamilton’s Public Administration

shows how Hamilton, as both theorist and practitioner,

developed stable, modern administrative structures by which

republican government could be reliably maintained. As

Green argues, Hamilton believed that his republican vision

could be attained and secured through the workings of a sta-

ble administration. However, Hamilton’s administrative

plans pointed beyond bureaucratic structures, as he under-

stood that efficient government machinery and effective pub-

lic policy were necessary to invigorate a modern constitutional

republic. Green’s book thus sketches Hamilton’s understand-

ing of the complex interplay of constitutionalism, adminis-

tration, and policy.

As Green explains, in Hamilton’s theory of government,

the Constitution embodies the permanent will of the people

and lays the groundwork for an administration that is not

only accountable and limited by law but also powerful and

energetic. This administration would serve the will of the

people, in part through its ability to form “the expression of

society’s permanent will” (p. 30). Moreover, by administer-

ing Hamilton’s ambitious economic, financial, military, and

foreign policies, the administration would contribute to the

constitutional republic’s lasting security. It would make

America a strong, independent commercial republic, while

also producing a citizenry capable of living in such a modern

regime. Critically, Hamilton hoped this regime would tran-

scend mere self-interest. The character of its rulers and citi-

zens, alongside the wealth it generated, would permit and

encourage generosity and liberality, thus promoting a certain

form of modern, liberal virtue and producing an “admirable

and powerful national character” (p. 38). In this way, Green

shows how administration did not simply address the “how”

of American politics, but the “why” and “what” as well (p.

3); for Green, Hamilton’s theory of public administration

must be situated within his understanding of political life and

constitutionalism.

Green provides a particularly interesting analysis of

Hamilton’s view of separation of powers and administrative

authority. Federalist 47 argues that the separation of powers

can be maintained only by mixing the three powers and giv-

ing each branch a “partial agency” in the actions of the oth-

ers. As Green argues, Hamilton happily embraced such

“flexible and pragmatic” mixing of powers (p. 54). Thus, it

comes as no surprise that Hamilton readily accepted the fact

that bureaucrats would wield even “quasi-legislative” and

“quasi-judicial” powers (p. 67). Green points out the broad

delegations of powers that occurred even early in the repub-

lic, including the substantial discretionary powers held by

port collectors, the Treasury’s extensive influence over the

management and sale of public lands, and its limited super-

intendence over the Coast Guard, Postal Service, the Bank of

the United States, and the sinking fund. Administrators, he

concludes, “govern in the fullest sense of the word” (p. 42).

Yet, even though Green defends the complex, mixed powers

administrators wielded, he explains how Hamilton attempted

to maintain a meaningful doctrine of separation of powers.

Administrators may hold non-executive powers, yet they

“apply all three powers of governance in focused and limited

ways” and their authority is “confined to a narrow field of

policy” (pp. 52–53). This permissive understanding of sepa-

ration of powers, combined with Hamilton’s broad construc-

tion of constitutional powers, enabled the creation of the

powerful national government Hamilton believed was neces-

sary to protect the developing republic.

Thus, Hamilton supported expansive administrative pow-

ers and discretion. At the same time, he wanted to hold

administrators responsible to their superiors, to the rule of

law, and ultimately to the American people. This “tension

between subordination and autonomy” (p. 97) could be

maintained through structural and procedural restraints and

also through the character of administrators, the professional

integrity that marked their calling. Hamilton sought to incul-

cate a desire for reputation that could be gained through loyal

public service, encouraging a love of honor which “approxi-

mated the love of virtue” and proffering duration in office

and the “accoutrements of office” (salary, status, power, etc.)

that would promote the growth of a stable cadre of sophisti-

cated expert administrators (pp. 100, 105). In this way, Green

suggests, Hamilton avoided two extremes. He did not idolize

the Constitution and the rule of law, in the vain belief that

they could impose rigid restrictions on discretion and pro-

duce near-perfect politics; nor did he expect that

904457ARPXXX10.1177/0275074020904457The American Review of Public AdministrationBook Review

book-review2020

Book Reviews

Green, R. T. (2019). Alexander Hamilton’s public administration. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. 272 pp. $49.95 (cloth/e-

book). ISBN 9780817320164 (cloth), 9780817392567 (e-book).

Reviewed by: Kevin J. Burns , Christendom College, Front Royal, VA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0275074020904457