The Problem of Delegated Activity

Abstract

This chapter analyses private actors that have the standing to do what they are democratically authorized to do on behalf of government in terms of delegated activity. It points out how the public and private agency through which a certain decision is made, or a function is performed changes the very nature of the decision or function at stake. It also shows that private actors may fail to do what they are authorized to do even when they follow the terms of their government's authorization. The chapter mentions private actors that remain not very different from the unilateral actions of private individuals in the Kantian state of nature. It discusses privatization that compromises the very possibility of the delegated function, rather than the validity of its authorization or whether the function is performed in a representative capacity.