7. Delegation and accountability Flashcards
Who said it? “Even sane people in higher office go crazy”
Plato.
Who proposes division between powers?
Montesquieu. Three divisions of power: executive, legislative, judicial.
What is delegation?
“An act where one person or group, called a principal, relies on another person or group, called an agent, to act on the principal’s behalf” (Lupia and McCubbins 1998)
From citizens to individual politicians
Why delegate according to Dahl?
Capacity
Competence
Social choice and collective action problems
Delegation comes with …. of experts (Dahl)
tyranny
Accountability is….
…a mechanism to increase institutional reaction to public
When is the agent accountable to the principal?
Agent is obliged to act on behalf of the principal or the principal can actually reward or punish the agent
According to Strøm (2000) democratic governance is…
effective (but limited) government containing mechanisms of delegation and accountability
