Re-Thinking Executive Control of and Accountability for the Agency

Abstract

The organizational of many western governments has undergone dramatic structural and procedural changes over the past century. A large portion of public administration previously done by departments within a more centralized structure of government has been shifted to administrative units - often referred to as ‘agencies’ - that fall outside the constitutional core - an agencified model. This article investigates historical contexts and legal development of these changes and illuminates how agencification has altered the balance between executive control powers and executive accountability obligations. It examines how the organisational changes have been addressed in both the Responsible Government models of the UK, Canada and Australia, and the Republican Presidential model of the USA. The article identifies a separation of accountability and control by the executive through its use of the agency and draws conclusions with implications for constitutional law, political theory and practice.

Keywords: Agency, executive, executive power, constitutional law, agencification

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K20, K23