Lawmaking and the Dynamics of Discretion in an Administration Agency

在Calavita博士的能干指导下，这项关于法律发展的纵向研究审查了移民和归化局(INS)解释国会立法时的决策过程。研究的重点是从1952年到现在，在这段时间里，移民局在解释国会法规方面行使了广泛的自由裁量权。卡拉维塔博士还研究了司法-行政互动以及法院裁决对移民局决策和自由裁量权的影响。通过对档案资料的系统分析和深度访谈，探讨了从正式法律到实际法律的转变以及外部和内部环境对这一政策制定过程的影响。正在研究的因素包括移民的经济作用与限制移民的政治努力之间的宏观矛盾，以回应特殊利益集团和个别立法者提出的关切，以及该机构本身的双重人事结构，其中包括政治任命人员和职业官员。这项研究是对从形式法律到事实法律演变的一次重要尝试，同时弥合了对法律行为的宏观和微观解释之间的理论分歧。这对我们科学理解行政机关立法有很大的帮助。

This longitudinal study of the development of law, under the able direction of Dr. Calavita, examines the decisionmaking processes of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as it has interpreted Congressional legislation. The focus of the research is on the period from 1952 to the present, a time in which the INS has exercised wide discretion in the interpretation of Congressional statutes. Also Dr. Calavita examines judicial- administrative interaction and the influence of court decisions on INS decisionmaking and discretion. Systematic analysis of archival data and in-depth interviews are used to probe the transition from formal law to law-in-action and the effect of the external and internal environment on this policymaking process. Among the factors under study are a macro-level contradiction between the economic role of immigration and the political effort to restrict immigration, INS response to concerns articulated by special interest groups and individual legislators, and a dual personnel structure within the agency itself that includes both political appointees and career officials. This study represents an important attempt to advance knowledge of the evolution from formal to de facto law, while bridging the theoretical schism between macro- and micro-level explanations of legal behavior. It should add considerably to our scientific understanding of lawmaking in administrative agencies.