Varieties of Accountability Mechanisms in Regulatory Agencies

Abstract

The expansion of independent regulatory agencies has been an exceptionally significant administrative phenomenon in the late XX century, contributing to the improvement of capabilities of contemporary states beyond their hierarchical organizational systems (Gilardi 2008; Jordana et al. 2011). However, the consolidation of these agencies has not followed a uniform pattern across sectors and countries over the years. While some experiences in recent decades have been very successful, others suggest some institutional failures. More specifically, it appears that an agency’s interaction with its audiences, and more generally its permeability within the context in which it operates, is fundamental for its capability to adjust to a changing reality, thus enabling its later development and consolidation (Dubash and Morgan 2013). For this reason, we believe that how these interactions operate, how they emerge, and particularly, under which conditions agencies are capable of acquiring sufficient political legitimacy, demand further scrutiny.