WHY DO STUDENTS HAVE PROBLEMS CONCEPTUALISING ADMINISTRATIVE LAW?
A good starting point is to realise that students can hardly be blamed for finding it hard to come to grips with some areas of law, including public and administrative law. There are many reasons for this. Through no fault of their own, students may have a limited understanding of the existing political order and its constitutional underpinnings, let alone the vast bureaucratic undergrowth at federal, state and local government levels. This is particularly so with international students and those non-English speaking backgrounds, but is by no means confined to them. As the email cited above indicates, mature-age students and those who have had some employment in the public sector find it easier to grasp the contours and intricacies of administrative law. But many younger students, often coming straight from secondary school, have had little exposure to the official institutional structures and governmental frameworks. In part, this reveals gaps or weaknesses in the school curricula. Fr
