Legitimizing Administrative Discretion

Abstract

This chapter argues that the rationale for a democratic state is to curb a form of subjection to the merely unilateral and legislative will of others. It describes bureaucratic unilateralism, which is the just and effective administration of the modern state risks that reproduce the problem within the state itself by demanding the delegation of a form of quasi-legislative discretion to administrators. It also shows how bureaucratic unilateralism in the privatized state is unavoidably transferred to private actors. The chapter argues the solution or mitigation of bureaucratic unilateralism through the direct application of certain standards of legitimation directly to the exercise of quasi-legislative, administrative discretion. It discusses the requirements of standards, which imply that the delegation of relevant discretion be validly authorized by a democratic and indicate a neat separation between contract and office in order to support officeholders' commitment to implement the law.