Administrative Agencies
Although the constitution does not mention administrative agencies as part of the branches of the government, they are considered as the fourth arm of the government. All governments globally recognize the legitimacy of these agencies to make rules that have the same impact as those outlined in the constitution (Harold, 1987). Administrative agencies drew my interest in the chapter’s reading because of the significant role they play in ensuring operations in various sectors of a state meet their objectives.
The primary objective of regulatory administrative agencies is to make rules and standardize operations in the public and private sector. These agencies are considered quasi-governmental because their operations are not under sub-divisions of the executive branch. On the contrary, regulatory agencies focus on protecting and preserving the rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Agencies designed to protect the security of rights primarily safeguard them from multiple threats, including attrition.
Although most people perceive administrative agencies as some kind of organizations run by unidentifiable bureaucrats that have no significant impact on people’s lives, these agencies play a big role in human life. The agencies have diverse obligations from regulation of food products that the wider population consume to other consumer merchandise in the market. The agencies are also in charge of regulating the vehicles that are fit to be driven on particular roads, air quality, and the type of programming available on television.
Regulatory agencies determine how operations in companies and organizations are run through regulations. A regulation is a set of requirements that a federal government agency issues to help implement federal laws in different sectors (Jennings, 2017). The Board of a regulatory agency is responsible for issuing regulations, and once it is issued, it follows a specific procedure as required of all regulatory administrative agencies in a country. Generally, before a regulation becomes standardized for all concerned parties to observe it, the regulatory agency proposes it and invites comments from stakeholders, including the general public.
An example of an administrative regulatory agency is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). FAA is a federal body of the United States, which is endowed with powers to regulate all operations concerning civil aviation in the country and its surrounding international waters. Like other regulatory agencies, FAA follows the required process before passing a regulation. The process should invite participation and consider every individual view regarding the proposed regulations. Considering the scenario presented in the question, FAA can pass the rule or not depending on the expert’s arguments. Expert input is critical when passing a regulatory rule, considering that these rules will affect the general public. One comment might not prevent the rule from being passed, but the support the expert provides should be assessed and its effect weighed before making the rule a legal regulation. Since FAA operations not only affect the people of the United States but also the surrounding waters, it is critical to consider the comment when deliberating the fate of the new rule. Concerns about any person about a proposed regulation should never be ignored since regulations affect every person.
References
Harold H. B. (1987). On the Constitutional Status of the Administrative Agencies, 36, 491.
Available at http://scholar.law.colorado.edu/articles/958.
Jennings, M.M. (2017). Business: Its legal, ethical, and global environment, 11th Ed.