Professor Nicholas Bednar ’16 researches the need for investment in the capacity of federal agencies

What helps presidents achieve their policy agendas: presidential control or administrative capacity? 

That question is at the center of Professor Nicholas Bednar’s research and is the focus of his journal article, to be published by the Stanford Law Review next year. Bednar, who earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota in 2016 and his PhD from Vanderbilt University, joined the Minnesota Law faculty in 2023. 

While long interested in the topic of public administration, Bednar says his interest was particularly piqued when the U.S. government began rolling out massive programs related to Covid-19 vaccines and pandemic aid. At the time, he was exploring potential dissertation subjects for his PhD in political science. Observing various federal agencies perform in this moment led him to take a deep dive into the administrative state. 

“I wanted to know why some of these agencies appeared really good at developing policy and implementing regulations and why some were really struggling even though they had had decades to prepare,” says Bednar. “While presidential control allows a president to set an agency’s policymaking agenda, agencies also need experienced policymaking teams. Scholars assume that these agencies have sufficient capacity to implement a president’s agenda but that’s not always the case.

Read about Prof. Bednar's work in this digital exclusive for Minnesota Law magazine