The following may be of interest to readers of Notice & Comment:

With support from the Hewlett Foundation, Nicholas Bagley (Michigan), Zachary Liscow (Yale), and the Niskanen Center will be hosting the Law of Abundance Conference in early 2026.  

A nascent movement known as “the Abundance Agenda” or “the State Capacity Movement” is drawing attention to how lackluster government performance underwrites a host of problems in the United States, ranging from crumbling infrastructure to inadequate housing to rampant tax evasion. The movement is ideologically diverse, and includes public figures like Ezra Klein  and Brink Lindsey.

The law can contribute to government dysfunction in myriad ways, including through a procedurally hidebound administrative law, an overzealous judiciary, hyperactive participation norms, antiquated civil service rules, and cumbersome procurement processes. Legal scholars in disparate fields have called for reforms that enable rather than frustrate government’s ability to achieve collective goals. Examples of the emerging “Law of Abundance” scholarly movement include works from J.B. Ruhl and James Salzman on environmental law, Anika Singh Lemar on land use law, and Jennifer Pahlka on technology policy.

We intend to select eight papers for a presentation at a conference to be held in early 2026. Each paper will be presented in an individual session over the course of one day. Each paper will be introduced by an experienced scholar who will comment on the work and facilitate a discussion of it with all participants. These sessions are meant to foster rich discussions and to lay the groundwork for future work on related themes. Participants will also include those with government experience. The authors can publish their articles where they wish, and the Niskanen Center will provide an opportunity to publish versions of the articles for a public policy audience.

Scholars whose papers are selected will receive an honorarium of $10,000 per paper. Anyone wishing to present a paper and participate in the conference should submit a two-page abstract by February 14 to Nicholas Bagley (nbagley@umich.edu) and Zachary Liscow (zachary.liscow@yale.edu). Submissions are welcome from scholars from law, economics, political science, or any area working on the legal and policy questions of how to promote abundance and better state capacity. Scholars who are new to academia are especially encouraged to apply.

I think administrative law scholars have a lot to add to this conversation!

@nicholas_bagley