Bureaucratic Discretion and Deliberative Democracy

2011 ◽  
pp. 131-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hunold ◽  
B. Guy Peter
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
Special Interests ◽  
The Public ◽  
Bureaucratic Discretion ◽  
Positive Image ◽  
Industrialized Democracies

Administrative discretion is both a strength and a weakness of contemporary political systems. Governments could not govern without the capacity to fill in legislation with detailed administrative regulations. Further, these regulations tend to reflect far more substantive information about the subjects being regulated than would most legislation coming from the legislature or decisions reached by the courts. The weakness of using discretion in rulemaking is the lack of legitimacy of these rules. Bureaucracies have a less than positive image in most industrialized democracies, and it is often assumed that their decisions are made to aggrandize their own institutional interests, or to serve “special interests” rather than the public. Thus, in order to make rulemaking more legitimate, effective means of oversight and participation for the public as a whole are required. We argue that many of the existing means of oversight are not as effective asthey once may have been. This is true largely because of the volume and complexity of rulemaking activity. In addition, the demands of the public in most democracies for more opportunities for effective participation mean that rulemaking that is done without the opportunity for the public to involve itself is suspect. The deliberative turn in thinking about participation, especially within public administration, may provide the public with opportunities for greater direct oversight, and perhaps also greater legitimacy for the rules adopted.

Bureaucratic Discretion and Deliberative Democracy

2011 ◽  
pp. 3500-3516
Author(s):  
Christian Hunold ◽  
B. Guy Peter
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
Special Interests ◽  
The Public ◽  
Bureaucratic Discretion ◽  
Positive Image ◽  
Industrialized Democracies

Administrative discretion is both a strength and a weakness of contemporary political systems. Governments could not govern without the capacity to fill in legislation with detailed administrative regulations. Further, these regulations tend to reflect far more substantive information about the subjects being regulated than would most legislation coming from the legislature or decisions reached by the courts. The weakness of using discretion in rulemaking is the lack of legitimacy of these rules. Bureaucracies have a less than positive image in most industrialized democracies, and it is often assumed that their decisions are made to aggrandize their own institutional interests, or to serve “special interests” rather than the public. Thus, in order to make rulemaking more legitimate, effective means of oversight and participation for the public as a whole are required. We argue that many of the existing means of oversight are not as effective asthey once may have been. This is true largely because of the volume and complexity of rulemaking activity. In addition, the demands of the public in most democracies for more opportunities for effective participation mean that rulemaking that is done without the opportunity for the public to involve itself is suspect. The deliberative turn in thinking about participation, especially within public administration, may provide the public with opportunities for greater direct oversight, and perhaps also greater legitimacy for the rules adopted.

Urban Government and Nation Building in East Africa

1971 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-592
Author(s):  
Richard Vengroff
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Theoretical Orientation ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emerging Nations ◽  
Conceptual Clarity ◽  
Micro Level

Recent years have witnessed a rebirth of interest in the study of local government (or local political systems, depending on one's theoretical orientation). This has been especially true among political Scientists seeking to develop new approaches more readily applicable to the political systems of the so-called emerging nations. It has become apparent to an increasing number of research workers that grandiose macro-theory of the Almond variety, while impressive on paper, may be of very little use in the field.1 Thus an attempt is now being made to return to the micro-level in order to gain greater conceptual clarity, and an understanding of behaviour in political situations. Unfortunately much of the new thrust to develop micro-level theory has been hampered by the continuing use of old, and at least partially outdated, tools, or what I have chosen to call (perhaps unjustifiably) ‘the public-administration approach’.

scholarly journals Sądowa kontrola decyzji organów podatkowych w sprawach ulg w spłacie zobowiązań podatkowych opartych na uznaniu administracyjnym

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 441
Author(s):  
Andrzej Niezgoda
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
The Public ◽  
Procedural Law ◽  
Tax Relief ◽  
The Law ◽  
Administrative Courts

<p>The article is of a scientific-research nature. The author discusses the problem of limits of judicial review of discretionary decisions made by taxation authorities, which aim at applying relief in payments of tax liabilities under Polish regulations and case-law of administrative courts. It may be noted that despite the issue of administrative discretion being discussed in the academic literature, the question of limits of judicial review in the practice of administrative courts still raises doubts. It is therefore reasonable to undertake the analysis of the main views formulated in the literature and the case-law of administrative courts addressing this problem, from the point of view of the limits of judicial review of discretionary decisions. The thesis of the article is that the nature of discretionary decisions on relief in payment of tax liabilities, determined by the function of administrative discretion, and, at the same time, the criteria set out in the law for judicial review of public administration, limit the role of the administrative court in examining the compliance with procedural law of the tax proceedings preceding the issuance of such a decision and the respecting by tax authorities of the fundamental values of the system of law expressed in the Polish Constitution. This is because they define the limits of administrative discretion, within which the choice of one of the possible solutions remains beyond the judicial review of the public administration. For the law, as it stands (<em>de lege lata</em>) there are no grounds for administrative courts, provided that the tax authorities respect the basic values of the legal system expressed in the Polish Constitution, to formulate assessments as to the circumstances and reasons justifying the granting or refusal to grant a tax relief, or its scope. The concept of internal and external limits of administrative discretion may therefore be useful for administrative court rulings.</p>

scholarly journals The Case of the Eleven-Inch Fish: A Study in Administrative Discretion

1999 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Don Jaccard
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
The Other ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Public Administrators ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Administrator ◽  
The One ◽  
Academic Debate ◽  
Laws And Regulations

The complex, yet vague nature, of legislation being generated by lawmakers in Washington, DC requires that public administrators be afforded administrative discretion in carrying out their respective duties. It is no longer possible for policymakers to be fully informed regarding the multitude of variables that exist in the offshore fishing environment, nor is it possible to articulate that spectrum of variables in codified laws and regulations. The academic debate between controlling the exercise of administrative discretion on the one hand and extending the leash of judgment on the other has been around as long as the profession of public administration. In the case of the eleven-inch fish (the fish is one inch shy of being a legal catch), the public administrator on the scene of the infraction has a choice to make. The administrator can choose to overlook the incident, issue a warning, or issue a $100 notice of violation and seize the fish. I know which alternative I chose. The question is, which alternative would you choose?

scholarly journals Discricionariedade e controle na tutela do patrimônio histórico e cultural: reserva da administração na escolha entre interesses públicos concorrentes e os limites da intervenção dos poderes judiciário e legislativo

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Baptista Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
National Heritage ◽  
Artistic Heritage

<p><strong>DISCRICIONARIEDADE E CONTROLE NA TUTELA DO PATRIMÔNIO HISTÓRICO E CULTURAL: RESERVA DA ADMINISTRAÇÃO NA ESCOLHA ENTRE INTERESSES PÚBLICOS CONCORRENTES E OS LIMITES DA INTERVENÇÃO DOS PODERES JUDICIÁRIO E LEGISLATIVO </strong></p><p><strong>Resumo:</strong> A proteção constitucional do patrimônio histórico e cultural como interesse difuso incrementou o contencioso sobre o tema. A decisão de preservar, ou não, um bem e a escolha do instrumento adequado para isso situam-se, porém, na esfera de discricionariedade do Executivo. O Judiciário, portanto, deve adotar postura deferente aos juízos de mérito da Administração, competindo-lhe zelar pela observância do devido processo legal. O Legislativo, por sua vez, tem papel restrito ao exercício da competência normativa.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chaves:</strong> Discricionariedade administrativa, patrimônio histórico, controle judicial, controle legislativo, tombamento, reserva da administração, devido processo legal, interesse público, responsabilidade.</p><p><strong>ADMINISTRATIVE DISCRETION AND JUDICIAL REVIEW REGARDING THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL HERITAGE: THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PRIMARY ROLE TO CHOOSE AMONG SEVERAL COMPETING PUBLIC INTEREST AND THE LIMITS OF JUDICIAL AND LEGISLATIVE INTERVENTION ON THIS SUBJECT</strong></p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> Brazil´s 1988 Constitution qualifies national historic and artistic heritage as a diffuse interest worthy of protection of Public Administration. Since then, judicial disputes regarding this subject have significantly increased. The decisions about whether and how to protect a historical site belong to the administrative sphere of discretion. Thus, judicial review should defer to administrative decisions, unless the due process clause rests violated. Legislative role on the subject is limited on rulemaking.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Administrative discretion, national historical and artistic heritage, protection of historical and artistic sites, judicial review, legislative review, due process, public interest, public and private accountability.</p><p><strong>Data da submissão:</strong> 08/11/2016                   <strong>Data da aprovação:</strong> 08/12/2016</p>

IMAGE MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

2011 ◽  
Vol 162 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-433
Author(s):  
Marcin FLIEGER ◽  
Michał FLIEGER
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Rational Approach ◽  
Image Management ◽  
Positive Perception ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Positive Image

The article deals with the question of creating and sustaining a strong, positive image of public administration institutions. The idea is to emphasise the importance of putting ef-forts to manage the image actively and to present the undisputed benefits that this process brings. Hence, the paper explains thoroughly the characteristic of an image itself and how it developed to the so-called ‘rational approach’. Then the authors analyse very specific ideas and assumptions which lay at the basis of undertaking measures in the field of public relations, which differ substantially from the motivation in private companies. Moreover, the article scrutinizes crucial groups of the public which might be attracted to the region by its positive perception and profoundly analyses the instruments of image management, at the same focusing on the fields in which public administration institutions ought to take up measures in order to build a positive image.

scholarly journals Framing “the Public Interest”: Comparing Public Lobbying Campaigns in Four European States

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oyvind Ihlen ◽  
Ketil Raknes ◽  
Ian Somerville ◽  
Chiara Valentini ◽  
Charlotte Stachel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Potential Problem ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Special Interests ◽  
Private Interest ◽  
The Public

How do lobbyists get their way and what is the consequence for democracy of their strategies? It is frequently asserted that lobbyists appeal to the public interest to strengthen their proposals. This paper empirically corroborates this claim through four case studies cutting across different European cultural clusters and political systems. The paper unpacks how businesses communicatively construct a link between their private interest and the public interest. The findings illustrate the flexibility of the public interest argument and hence also the potential problem. If everything can be made out to be in the public interest, the concept becomes empty and easy to capture for special interests. At the same time, unpacking the communicative construction helps in critically evaluating lobbyists’ claims of working in the public interest.

scholarly journals ADMINISTRATIVE DISCRETION AND INSTRUMENTS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS: ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL AND DEONTOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-44
Author(s):  
P. P. Bylik ◽  
I. A. Osadcha
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Social Orientation ◽  
Professional Conduct ◽  
Public Administrators ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Mission ◽  
Public Administrator

The article focuses on the relationship between public administration and legal deontology. Public administration is a renewed form of public administration. The difference is that public administration is a more democratic process of state-authoritative impact on social relations. This democracy is manifested in the forms and methods of managerial activity used. Among the forms and methods of public administration, a softer set of forms is selected – an appropriate combination of legal and non-legal forms, the method of persuasion and coercion. The very activity has an executive and administrative nature. The executive orientation implies the call of public administrations to promote the practical implementation of laws. Orders – to adopt and implement legal acts of administration. Forms and methods together constitute the tools of activity of public administrations. Executive-administrative activity is carried out through appropriate managerial procedures. The basis of activity is administrative discretion. It consists in the possibility at one’s own risk to use forms and methods in their totality depending on the choice of the public administrator himself. This requires its appropriate level of professional training and the necessary level of compliance of the activity of a public administrator with increased moral and ethical parameters. Given the lack of administrative and procedural legislation, it is proposed to consider the use of discretionary powers as permissible with the possibility of expanding their limits within the law. But this is only on condition of introducing into the normative regulation of public administrators’ activity the code of their professional conduct. Such a code should contain an ideal model of professional conduct of public administrators. Conformity of professional conduct of an official of public administration body to the requirements of the code is a prerequisite for the implementation of its social mission. The code of ethics of a public administrator should contain a set of requirements of moral and ethical nature, compliance with which in the activities of the public administrator will contribute to the implementation of constitutional requirements on the social orientation and conditionality of the activities of the state and all its bodies.

scholarly journals Toolbox of the Public Administration Entity. Intersection of the Principle of Legality and Administrative Discretion in Exercising the Revocation of an Administrative Decision

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Simona Bareikytė
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Administrative Procedures ◽  
Principle Of Legality

For some, revocation of an administrative decision arises doubts, for others, it is a legal measure ensuring that public administration entities are able to respond to changing circumstances and adopt not only legitimate, but also fair decisions by striking a balance between private and public interests. This paper aims to analyse the choice of Lithuania with respect to the implementation and application of the public administration entities right to revoke its previously adopted administrative decision. In order to achieve this goal, the results of analysis of the role of the principle of legality and administrative discretion in the decision-making process, legal regulation of public administration and case-law are revealed. The analysis will show that there is room for the possible systematisation of the administrative procedures, aiming to ensure that public administration entities are able to respond to the ongoing changes in order to fulfil the objectivities based on which the particular public administration entities were established.

scholarly journals ADMINISTATIVE DISCRETION IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND ITS CONNECTION WITH LEGAL DEONTOLOGY: THEORETICAL AND LEGAL ASPECT

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-62
Author(s):  
P. P. Bilyk ◽  
I. A. Osadcha
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Legal Aspect ◽  
The State ◽  
Administrative Discretion ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Administrator ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
Professional Characteristics ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
Definition Of

SummaryIn the process of implementing the functions and objectives of the state to ensure therealization of human rights and freedoms Officials of the public administration authoritiesbased on the concept of building competent administrative legislation оften face the needto make management decisions, based on their administrative discretion. Effectiveness andfeasibility of adopted and implemented in such conditions managerial decisions directlydepends on the professional level of the public administrator. The level of professionalismdepends not only on the level of knowledge and skills of the public administrator, but alsodepends a considerable extent from its desire and desire to properly blame its professionalvocation. Legal deontology contributes to the regulatory definition of the optimal crime ofmoral and ethical requirements compliance with which testifies to the readiness of the publicadministration authorities system to implement the functions and objectives of the state asappropriate. The article analyzes the concept of public administration and is concluded aboutits identity of the Public Administration category. Both administrative and legal categoriesare manifested as the process of developing, making and implement management decisions.Administrative legislation is constructed in such a way that its procedural part based onopportunities based on and within the Constitution and Laws of Ukraine, it is based on publicadministration based on administrative discretion. In public administration, the result of theimplementation of the administrative discretion is the formation of an appropriate managementstyle, as the result of the use and variation association of permissible forms and managementmethods. The public administrator is a representative of the state in a relationship with aperson. The level of rights and freedoms proclaimed by law depends on his managementdecisions. Given the need to appeal when making decisions to administrative discretion, thedeontological component of the professional characteristics of the public administrator seemsto be significant.

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