Book contents
- Can America Govern Itself?
- SSRC Anxieties of Democracy
- Sponsored by the Social Science Research Council
- Can America Govern Itself?
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Anxieties of American Democracy
- Part I Anxieties of Power, Influence, and Representation
- Part II Procedural Anxieties
- Part III Anxieties of Governance
- 10 Public Policy and Political Dysfunction
- 11 The Effects of Partisan Polarization on the Bureaucracy
- 12 Polarization and the Changing American Constitutional System
- 13 Democratic Anxieties
- Index
- Index Authors
- References
11 - The Effects of Partisan Polarization on the Bureaucracy
from Part III - Anxieties of Governance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 May 2019
- Can America Govern Itself?
- SSRC Anxieties of Democracy
- Sponsored by the Social Science Research Council
- Can America Govern Itself?
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Anxieties of American Democracy
- Part I Anxieties of Power, Influence, and Representation
- Part II Procedural Anxieties
- Part III Anxieties of Governance
- 10 Public Policy and Political Dysfunction
- 11 The Effects of Partisan Polarization on the Bureaucracy
- 12 Polarization and the Changing American Constitutional System
- 13 Democratic Anxieties
- Index
- Index Authors
- References
Summary
How is partisan polarization affecting the modern administrative state. Research suggests that despite a polarized Congress and a (somewhat) polarized electorate, agency policy choices do not seem to be moving systematically toward the extremes.Some combination of moderating effects seem to be at work, including the effect of divided government on appointments, agency preferences driven by moderate statutory mandates and/or the norms of issue networks, and (at times) the influence of ideologically moderate presidents on the size of the gridlock interval. The Trump administration may represent a departure from these norms: conservatives in the Trump coalition may be freer to pursue policies disfavored by a majority because of populist loyalty to the administration. Regardless, polarization-induced congressional gridlock poses ongoing challenges for the administrative state. Agencies must address problems within their jurisdiction in the absence of congressional input, using statutes that may have been poorly designed for the purpose.Courts will continue to struggle, case by case, with the implications for the constitutional legitimacy of agency policymaking.
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- Can America Govern Itself? , pp. 238Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019