ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the implications of responsive law for the nature of contemporary adjudication and the role of the judge in the modern state. This is a theme Philip Selznick discusses only in passing, but one we have explored at some length in our book, Judicial Policy Making and the Modern State. The chapter identifies the essential features of Selznick's ideas of responsive government and responsive law and shows how they flow from some of his long-standing concerns of modern society. It presents various models of judicial decision making, concluding with the model of the judge as administrator that we believe is implied by Selznick's approach. The chapter explores how modern courts in fact act as administrators, and how they engage in policymaking functions that reflect this final model. In short, the chapter suggests that Selznick's views provide a way of understanding the nature and form of modern courts.
