Cornelius Martin Kerwin

Rulemaking, first published in 1994 by Congressional Quarterly, makes the case that the rules federal agencies write are the most consequential source of American law and policy, and it has remained in print through six editions on that argument. Cornelius Martin Kerwin wrote it. Born in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1949, he spent his entire academic career at American University in Washington: on the faculty of the School of Public Affairs from 1975, later its dean, provost from 1997, then acting president and president from 2005 until he stepped down in 2017 and Sylvia Mathews Burwell succeeded him. His own first degree came from the same institution, followed by a graduate degree in political science from Rhode Island and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins. He founded its Center for the Study of Rulemaking. Scott R. Furlong joined him as co-author from the fourth edition, and the sixth, issued in 2025, carries a new title, Rulemaking: The Creation of Law and Policy by Government Agencies.