Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Proposals to reform the administrative state
From Ballotpedia
| What are the five pillars of the administrative state? Ballotpedia's five pillars of the administrative state provide a framework for understanding the authority, influence, and actions of administrative agencies, as well as the policies and arguments surrounding them. The five pillars focus on the control of administrative agencies related to the (1) legislative, (2) executive, and (3) judicial branches of government, (4) the public, and (5) other agencies or sub-agencies. |
| Administrative State |
|---|
|
| Five Pillars of the Administrative State |
| •Agency control • Executive control • Judicial control •Legislative control • Public Control |
| Click here for more coverage of the administrative state on Ballotpedia.
|
| Click here to access Ballotpedia's administrative state legislation tracker. |
This page presents an index of proposals to reform the administrative state. Proposals are categorized according to one of the five pillars of the administrative state at which they are aimed. These pillars focus on central concepts in the debate over the nature and scope of the administrative state, and are:
- Legislative control of the administrative state. Legislative control includes two primary components: (1) delegation and nondelegation and (2) legislative oversight (including legislative approval and veto requirements). Delegation and nondelegation refer to the extent to which a legislature grants authority to agencies and whether such delegation is constitutionally permissible. Legislative oversight refers to a legislature's ability to monitor, approve, or reject agency actions through mechanisms like the REINS Act, resolutions of disapproval, and legislative vetoes.
- Judicial control of the administrative state. Judicial control involves two primary components: judicial review of agency rules and judicial deference. Judicial review refers to the courts' authority to examine and potentially overturn agency actions or rules. Judicial deference, on the other hand, occurs when a court defers to an agency's interpretation of a statute or regulation it has issued. In other words, when a law or regulation is challenged in court, the agency’s interpretation is upheld if it is deemed reasonable, even if the court would prefer a different interpretation.
- Executive control of the administrative state. Executive control involves three primary components: appointment and removal power, executive review of agency rules, and legislative review of executive actions. The appointment and removal power is the authority of an executive to appoint and remove officials in the various branches of government. Executive review of agency rules mandates that the governor or another part of the executive branch review all agency rules.
- Public control of the administrative state. Public control represents how administrative agencies relate to the people and organizations subject to their rules and regulations. The primary components of the public control pillar are public participation and procedural rights. This includes topics such as individual due process, standing, adjudication and enforcement proceedings, and public participation in the rulemaking process.
- Agency control within the administrative state. The agency control pillar focuses on the structure and function of administrative agencies. While the majority of agencies are housed under the executive branch, others are established as independent federal agencies or are housed under the legislative or judicial branches. These structural variations impact agency oversight as well as agency interactions across branches. This pillar also involves understanding the nuts and bolts of agency functions, including rulemaking and adjudication proceedings.
- Click here for reform proposals related to legislative control
- Click here for reform proposals related to judicial control
- Click here for reform proposals related to executive control
- Click here for reform proposals related to public control
- Click here for reform proposals related to agency control
Footnotes
