IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/reggov/v15y2021i3p785-799.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Political values in independent agencies

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas Eriksen

Abstract

Despite that independent agencies are typically justified in terms of technical efficiency, they inevitably have to make political judgments. How can political reasoning be legitimate in such institutions? This paper starts by investigating the merits of two prominent models. The “avoidance model” asks agency reasoning to stick to empirical facts and as far as possible stay clear of political values. By contrast, the “specification model” recognizes the need for constructive normative work, but confines it to the refinement of given statutes. This paper challenges both models and defends a third alternative. The “public reason model” requires agencies to ground their value judgments in a publicly accessible framework of reasoning, which is here interpreted as their overarching mandate. The paper argues that agency mandates should be conceived as distinct domains of reasoning, and it delineates three institutional virtues that enable agencies to track this domain.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Eriksen, 2021. "Political values in independent agencies," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 785-799, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:15:y:2021:i:3:p:785-799
    DOI: 10.1111/rego.12299
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12299
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rego.12299?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giandomenico Majone, 1996. "Temporal Consistency and Policy Credibility: Why Democracies Need Non-Majoritarian Institutions," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers 57, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).
    2. Nelson, Robert H, 1987. "The Economics Profession and the Making of Public Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 49-91, March.
    3. Christoph Ossege, 2015. "Driven by Expertise and Insulation? The Autonomy of European Regulatory Agencies," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(1), pages 101-113.
    4. White, Jonathan & Ypi, Lea, 2011. "On Partisan Political Justification," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(2), pages 381-396, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heine Klaus & Mause Karsten, 2003. "Politikberatung als informationsökonomisches Problem," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 223(4), pages 479-490, August.
    2. Scott A. Beaulier & William J. Boyes & William S. Mounts, 2008. "The Influence of Economists on Public Attitudes toward Government," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 52(2), pages 65-71, October.
    3. Eckert, Sandra, 2020. "EU agencies in banking and energy between institutional and policy centralisation," SAFE Working Paper Series 278, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    4. Marina Riem, 2017. "Essays on the Behavior of Firms and Politicians," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 73.
    5. Brinkman, Anthony P., 2003. "The Ethical Challenges and Professional Responses of Travel Demand Forecasters," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt9c3330tt, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    6. Richard B. Howarth & Matthew A. Wilson, 2006. "A Theoretical Approach to Deliberative Valuation: Aggregation by Mutual Consent," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 82(1), pages 1-16.
    7. Chris Hanretty & Christel Koop, 2013. "Shall the law set them free? The formal and actual independence of regulatory agencies," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(2), pages 195-214, June.
    8. James Hite, 1987. "Rural people, resources and communities: An assessment of the capabilities of the social sciences in agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 4(1), pages 27-41, December.
    9. Brinkman, P. Anthony, 2003. "The Ethical Challenges and Professional Responses of Travel Demand Forecasters," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7vb2d17h, University of California Transportation Center.
    10. Trym N. Fjørtoft, 2022. "More power, more control: The legitimizing role of expertise in Frontex after the refugee crisis," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 557-571, April.
    11. Lars P. Feld & Stefan Voigt, 2004. "Making Judges Independent – Some Proposals Regarding the Judiciary," CESifo Working Paper Series 1260, CESifo.
    12. Crabbé, Philippe, 1990. "Les économistes doivent-ils se mettre au vert?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 66(3), pages 285-304, septembre.
    13. Steinmueller, W. Edward, 2010. "Economics of Technology Policy," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1181-1218, Elsevier.
    14. Enrico Colombatto, 2014. "Hayek and economic policy (the Austrian road to the third way)," Chapters, in: Roger W. Garrison & Norman Barry (ed.), Elgar Companion to Hayekian Economics, chapter 15, pages 343-363, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Kogut, Bruce & Macpherson, J. Muir, 2011. "The mobility of economists and the diffusion of policy ideas: The influence of economics on national policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 1307-1320.
    16. Mattia Guidi, 2015. "The Impact of Independence on Regulatory Outcomes: the Case of EU Competition Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 1195-1213, November.
    17. van Dalen, H.P. & Klamer, A., 2009. "Trading economics across the Atlantic : Jan Tinbergen for Milton Friedman," Other publications TiSEM 9ecb3de7-f6b6-437f-a957-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    18. RALPH C. d'ARGE & RICHARD B. NORGAARD & MANCUR OLSON & RICHARD SOMERVILLE, 1991. "Economic Growth, Sustainability, And The Environment," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 9(1), pages 1-23, January.
    19. Lindsey, Robin & Santos, Georgina, 2020. "Addressing transportation and environmental externalities with economics: Are policy makers listening?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    20. Miriam Aparicio, 2022. "Resilience: A “Psychosocial†Competency and Its Role in the Pathways of University Students in Intercultural Research (Pre and Post-COVID19)," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 8, ejis_v8_i.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:15:y:2021:i:3:p:785-799. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1748-5991 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.