M. Blake Emerson: A Leading Voice in American Public Law and Progressive Democracy

M. Blake Emerson is a highly respected Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at UCLA, whose work significantly contributes to the understanding and evolution of American public law. His research delves into administrative law, structural constitutional law, and political theory, establishing him as a prominent authority in these fields. Emerson's scholarship is characterized by its relevance to public policy and its potential to influence improvements in the law, earning him prestigious accolades and recognition within the legal academy.

Academic Journey and Recognition

Emerson's academic journey is marked by excellence and achievement. He earned his B.A., magna cum laude, with highest honors, from Williams College. He furthered his studies at Yale University, where he received his Ph.D. with honors, and at Yale Law School, where he obtained his J.D. with honors. His dedication to legal scholarship and his insightful contributions to the field have been acknowledged through several awards and honors.

In 2021, Emerson received the Association of American Law Schools, Administrative Law Section’s Emerging Scholar Award. Recognizing his rising prominence and influence in administrative law scholarship. Further solidifying his reputation as a leading legal scholar, he was a Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School in the spring of 2024. In 2025, Emerson received the Early Career Scholars Medal from the American Law Institute (ALI). The award - which the ALI bestows only every other year - is among the most prestigious in the legal academy. According to the ALI, it goes “to one or two outstanding early-career law professors whose work is relevant to public policy and has the potential to influence improvements in the law. Emerson joined the UCLA Law faculty in 2018.

Michael Waterstone, UCLA Law’s dean, expressed his enthusiasm for Emerson's achievements, stating, “I am thrilled that the ALI has chosen Blake for this honor. He has already been active in policymaking spaces, and his work is highly relevant to pressing issues that affect the shape and structure of administrative agencies and other government actors."

Research Focus and Contributions

Emerson's research examines the normative and historical foundations of American public law. He draws on resources from political theory and American political development to understand the structure and purpose of the regulatory state. He studies questions such as: What role have federal government agencies played in interpreting and implementing civil rights and other fundamental public values? How can legal doctrine ensure that agencies address such significant policy issues in a reasoned and inclusive fashion? In what ways have the diverse institutions of the American state realized, or failed to live up to, democratic principles?

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His work explores critical questions surrounding the role of government agencies in upholding civil rights, ensuring reasoned and inclusive policy-making, and promoting democratic principles within American institutions.

The Public's Law: Origins and Architecture of Progressive Democracy

Emerson’s book, The Public’s Law: Origins and Architecture of Progressive Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2019), offers a history and theory of democracy in the American administrative state. A theory and history of democracy in the American administrative state, the book describes how American Progressive thinkers including John Dewey, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Woodrow Wilson embraced Hegel's view of the connection between bureaucracy and freedom. Their positive vision of the administrative state influenced New Deal policymaking, as well as the Administrative Procedures Act of 1946 and the War on Poverty. The book develops a theory of the state that emphasizes regulation and provision of social services through deliberative procedures, rather than hinging on economistic thinking or the legitimacy of presidential authority. The book explores the works of German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, among others.

Hegel's thought was particularly important because it offered a compelling critique of the classical liberal ideals of thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu, who had influenced nineteenth century understandings of law and politics. Locke argued that individuals held natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that government was established by contract to protect those rights. Hegel countered that these rights weren't natural, but rather emerged when individuals in society recognized one another as equals. The Progressives took from this that freedom was something to be achieved through collective social action, not a static value to be protected against government interference. Similarly, whereas Montesquieu treated the legislature, executive, and judiciary as categorically distinct powers that checked one another, Hegel argued that government could only function if the powers were sufficiently integrated to address pressing social problems. These arguments together helped to justify the development of the regulatory state.

Addressing Contemporary Challenges

Emerson's insights extend to contemporary challenges facing American democracy. He addresses the issues of legislative inaction and increasing presidential control over administration, arguing that they undermine democratic progress.

Emerson suggests that Americans need to orient politics away from the presidency. The president is an important and powerful figure, to be sure. But reliance on the personal authority of a single individual is both dangerous and likely to be ineffective. It is breathtaking, for instance, how quickly President Obama's Progressive vision has been swept away by the Trump Administration. Instead of hinging all hopes on transformational heroes, the public needs to focus energy in two other places: legislation and direct exchanges with administrative agencies. It's been a long time since we've had a fresh burst of major Progressive legislation-probably not since the environmental protection and civil rights statutes of the 70s. We need a new round of statutory authority to address issues like climate change, immigration, and economic inequality. And when Congress designs these programs, it should build in procedures that insure greater opportunity for egalitarian public involvement in the administrative policymaking process.

Publications and Engagements

Emerson’s articles have appeared or are forthcoming in the Georgetown Law Journal, the Yale Law Journal, Jurisprudence, The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory, The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Yale Journal on Regulation, Harvard Law & Policy Review, Minnesota Law Review, Hastings Law Journal, and Review of Politics, among other publications. He is a coeditor of the second and third editions of Comparative Administrative Law (Edward Elgar, 2017 and forthcoming 2025). He has coauthored two reports on federal agency best practices for the Administrative Conference of the United States, and written shorter contributions for Slate, the Notice and Comment Blog, Regulatory Review, and Law and Political Economy Blog.

His publications demonstrate his wide-ranging expertise and his commitment to engaging with pressing legal and political issues.

Selected Publications:

The Binary Executive, 132 Yale L.J. Forum 756 (2022).
'Policy' in the Administrative Procedure Act: Implications for Delegation, Deference, and Democracy, Chicago-Kent College of Law (forthcoming 2022).
Liberty and Democracy Through the Administrative State: A Critique of the Roberts Court’s Political Theory, 73 Hastings Law Journal 371 (2022).
The Departmental Structure of Executive Power: Subordinate Checks from Madison to Mueller, 38 (1) Yale Journal on Regulation 90 (2021).
Abandoning Presidential Administration: A Civic Governance Agenda to Promote Democratic Equality and Guard Against Creeping Authoritarianism (with Jon D. Michaels), 68 UCLA Law Review 104 (2021).
The Claims of Official Reason: Administrative Guidance on Social Inclusion, 128 Yale Law Journal 2122 (2019).
Administrative Answers to “Major Questions”: On the Democratic Legitimacy of Agency Statutory Interpretation, 102 Minnesota Law Review 2019 (2018).
Affirmatively Furthering Equal Protection: Constitutional Meaning in the Administration of Fair Housing, 65 Buffalo Law Review 163 (2017).
The Administration of Constitutional Conflict: Structural Transformations in American Public Law, 1877-1946, 45 Quaderni Fiorentini (2017).
Book Review, 35 Law & History Review 558 (2017). Review of Forging Rivals: Race, Class, Law and the Collapse of Postwar Liberalism (2015), by Reuel Schiller.
The Democratic Reconstruction of the Hegelian State in American Progressive Political Thought, 77 The Review of Politics 545 (2015).
Dialectic of Color-blindness, 39 Philosophy & Social Criticism 693 (2013).
Criminal Justice and the Ideology of Individual Responsibility, in Race, Crime and Punishment: Breaking the Connection in America, (edited by Keith Lawrence, Aspen, 2011).

Championing Academic Freedom and Research Funding

Emerson is a vocal advocate for academic freedom and the importance of research funding in higher education. He actively speaks out against political interference in universities and defends the vital role that these institutions play in fostering knowledge and critical thinking.

Resisting Political Interference

Emerson has been a strong voice against political interference in academic institutions, particularly in response to actions taken by the Trump administration. When the White House moved to cut off a significant amount of federal funds to UCLA, citing concerns about the university's handling of antisemitism on campus, Emerson and his colleagues drafted an open letter to the UC Regents, arguing that the funding terminations were unlawful. Over 170 professors at UC law schools signed the letter, demonstrating widespread support for the university and its academic freedom.

Emerson's commitment to defending academic freedom underscores his belief in the importance of universities as spaces for open inquiry and critical discourse.

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The Importance of Research Funding

Emerson understands the critical role that research funding plays in supporting academic inquiry and innovation. He recognizes that universities rely on federal funding to conduct groundbreaking research, support students and faculty, and contribute to the advancement of knowledge.

Democratic lawmakers in California have proposed a ballot measure that would provide for $23 billion in funding for state grants for research. The proposal would leverage California’s unparalleled economic strength to check the Trump administration’s lawlessness.

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