Name the three values at the core of regulatory administration and describe the complexities involved in pursuing them.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The three values at the heart of regulatory administration are procedural fairness, substantive correctness of decisions, and the achievement of public policy goals. The first value, procedural fairness, is widely agreed on, but often courts would rather agencies imitate their procedures instead of agencies’ own adjudicative procedures. Though often agencies do mimic the courts, the trend is always away from formal and toward informal rulemaking. The next value is more substantive: the correctness of a decision reached. The system should assure a correct answer, but neither the agency nor the court can assure the decision made is correct owing to the scientific and technological uncertainties involved in policy issues mixed with political judgments that add bias to which decision is the “right” one. The last value, the achievement of policy objectives, is complicated by the ways agencies and courts operate differently, in ways that can trip each other up. Formalizing procedures excessively, as the courts would mandate, can cause ridiculous delays in the administrative process. In essence, efficiency is compromised for accountability and vice versa depending on whether you go with the courts’ procedures or the agencies’.