Christopher S. Havasy

Assistant Professor of Law

Chris Havasy is an Assistant Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law. His principal research interest is in administrative law and separation of powers, with an emphasis on examining the relationships between political institutions and civil society. His primary research and teaching interests are in administrative law, constitutional law, legislation, legal history, and statutory interpretation. He has additional interests in law and political economy, law of democracy, corporate governance, and legal philosophy.

His current projects examine the intellectual history of radical conceptions of administrative law and separation of powers; the "siloization" of applied justice claims in public law; properly structuring interest group lobbying using law and institutional design; and the use of Enlightenment political theory in constitutional interpretation. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Virginia Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review (x2), UC Davis Law Review, and Journal of Empirical Legal Studies.

Chris also recently completed his Ph.D. in Government at Harvard University. Before entering his doctoral program, Chris worked at the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, the DOJ Criminal Division’s Office of Policy and Legislation, and the EEOC’s Appellate Services Division. Chris also has extensive pro bono experience in civil rights and criminal justice reform efforts. He was previously a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law School.

He holds a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School where he was an executive editor for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. He also has a M.A. in Government from Harvard and a Sc.B. magna cum laude with Honors in Political Science and Honors in Biology from Brown University.

Select Publications by Professor Havasy

“Radical Administrative Law,” Vanderbilt Law Review, Forthcoming

“The Quest for Legitimacy: A Public Law Blueprint for Corporate Governance,” UC Davis Law Review, Forthcoming

“Relational Fairness in the Administrative State,” Virginia Law Review, Vol. 109 (2023)

“Against Political Theory in Constitutional Interpretation,” Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 76 (2023) (with Joshua C. Macey & Brian Richardson)

“Interest Group Lobbying and Political Equality,” Harvard Law School; Harvard University, Department of Government

“The Negative Effect Fallacy: A Case Study of Incorrect Statistical Reasoning by Federal Courts,” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Vol. 14, 2017