The Legacy of Social Darwinism: From Railroads to the 'Reinvention' of Regulation

Abstract

According to accepted wisdom, new paradigms of regulation are upon us. This Article challenges this conception. It revisits the work of the leading regulator and theoretician of regulation in post-Civil War U.S., Charles Francis Adams, Jr., and argues that contemporary regulation reverts to Adams' theory of regulation, rather than introducing a revolutionary chapter to the intellectual history of regulation in the United States. The Article operates on three levels. On one level, it offers a new interpretation of Adams' seminal theory by revealing the hold that Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism had on his work. On another level, the article uncovers the influence evolutionary thinking had on the rise of the American administrative state in general, and on the work of one of its greatest regulators in particular. Finally, in exposing the imprint of Social Darwinism in Adams' theory of regulation and connecting this theory to present models of regulation, the Article unearths and explores key theoretical foundations of much of contemporary thinking and practice in the field of administrative regulation. Thus, the Article reveals that the legacy of Social Darwinism, which originated in nineteenth century U.S. regulation, persists to this day.