Government agency
Encyclopedia
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government
that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency
. There is a notable variety of agency types. Although usage differs, a government agency is normally distinct both from a department or ministry
, and other types of public body established by government
. The functions of an agency are normally executive in character, since different types of organisation (such as commission
s) are normally used for advisory functions, but this distinction is often blurred in practice.
A government agency may be established by either a national government or a state government within a federal system. (The term is not normally used for an organization created by the powers of a local government body.) Agencies can be established by legislation or by executive powers. The autonomy, independence and accountability of government agencies also vary widely.
, responsible for ships and supplies, which was established in 1546 by King Henry VIII and the British "Commissioners of Bankruptcy" established in 1570. The United States Library of Congress
was founded in 1800 and is, unusually, an agency of the legislative branch of government.
From 1933, the New Deal
saw rapid growth in US federal agencies, the "alphabet agencies
" as they were used to deliver new programs mandated by legislation, such as federal emergency relief
.
From the 1980s, as part of New Public Management
, several countries including Australia and the United Kingdom developed the use of agencies to improve efficiency in public services.
(Greek
: Γενική Γραμματεία Μακεδονίας-Θράκης), previously Ministry for Macedonia and Thrace (Greek
: Υπουργείο Μακεδονίας-Θράκης) is a government agency
of the Hellenic Republic that is responsible for the Greek regions
of Macedonia
and Thrace.
Secretariat describes itself as a "nodal agency for coordination amongst the ministries of the Govt. of India". Most notably as an international feature, what appear to be independent agencies (or apex agencies) include some that have active roles for Ministers: such as, the National Security Council
, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
, and the Planning Commission, which is chaired ex-officio by the Prime Minister.
are either executive agencies
answerable to government ministers or non-departmental public bodies
answerable directly to one of the parliament
s or devolved assemblies
of the United Kingdom.
Agencies can be created by enabling legislation by the Parliament of the United Kingdom
, Scottish Parliament
or the National Assembly for Wales
.
Agencies in England usually answer to Westminster or the British Government. In Scotland they usually answer to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliament and in Wales to the National Assembly for Wales.
Some have remits that cover the entire UK and these organisations are funded by and answer to the British Government.
delegate specific authority to government agencies to regulate
the complex facets of the modern American
federal state
. Also, most of the 50 U.S. state
s have created similar government agencies.
The term "government agency" or "administrative agency" usually applies to one of the independent agencies of the United States government
, which exercise some degree of independence from the President's control. Although the heads of independent agencies are often appointed by the President, they can usually be removed only for cause. The heads of independent agencies work together in groups, such as a commission, board or council. Independent agencies often function as miniature versions of the tripartite
federal government with the authority to legislate
(through the issuing, or "promulgation" of regulation
s), to adjudicate
disputes, and to enforce agency regulations (through enforcement personnel). Examples of independent agencies include the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC), the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) and the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC).
A broader definition of the term "government agency" also means the United States federal executive departments
that include the President's cabinet-level departments
, and their sub-units. Examples of these agencies include the Department of Energy
(DOE) and the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), which is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury
.
Most federal agencies are created by Congress through statute
s called "enabling act
s" which define the scope of an agency's authority. Because the Constitution
does not expressly mention federal agencies (as it does the three branches), some commentators have called agencies the "headless fourth branch" of the federal government. However, most independent agencies are technically part of the executive branch, with a few located in the legislative branch of government. By enacting the Administrative Procedure Act
(APA) in 1946, Congress established some means to oversee government agency action. The APA established uniform administrative law
procedures for a federal agency's promulgation of rules, and adjudication of claims. The APA also sets forth the process for judicial review
of agency action.
Machinery of government
The Machinery of Government means the interconnected structures and processes of government, such as the functions and accountability of departments in the executive branch of government...
that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
. There is a notable variety of agency types. Although usage differs, a government agency is normally distinct both from a department or ministry
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
, and other types of public body established by government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
. The functions of an agency are normally executive in character, since different types of organisation (such as commission
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
s) are normally used for advisory functions, but this distinction is often blurred in practice.
A government agency may be established by either a national government or a state government within a federal system. (The term is not normally used for an organization created by the powers of a local government body.) Agencies can be established by legislation or by executive powers. The autonomy, independence and accountability of government agencies also vary widely.
History
Early examples of organizations that would now be termed a government agency include the British Navy BoardNavy Board
The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...
, responsible for ships and supplies, which was established in 1546 by King Henry VIII and the British "Commissioners of Bankruptcy" established in 1570. The United States Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
was founded in 1800 and is, unusually, an agency of the legislative branch of government.
From 1933, the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
saw rapid growth in US federal agencies, the "alphabet agencies
Alphabet agencies
In total, at least 100 offices were created during Roosevelt's terms of office as part of the New Deal, and "even the Comptroller-General of the United States, who audits the government's accounts, declared he had never heard of some of them." While previously all monetary appropriations had been...
" as they were used to deliver new programs mandated by legislation, such as federal emergency relief
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration was the new name given by the Roosevelt Administration to the Emergency Relief Administration which President Herbert Hoover had created in 1932...
.
From the 1980s, as part of New Public Management
New Public Management
New public management is a management philosophy used by governments since the 1980s to modernise the public sector. New public management is a broad and very complex term used to describe the wave of public sector reforms throughout the world since the 1980s...
, several countries including Australia and the United Kingdom developed the use of agencies to improve efficiency in public services.
Greece
The General Secretariat for Macedonia and ThraceGeneral Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace
The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace , previously the Ministry for Macedonia and Thrace is a government agency of the Hellenic Republic that is responsible for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
(Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Γενική Γραμματεία Μακεδονίας-Θράκης), previously Ministry for Macedonia and Thrace (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Υπουργείο Μακεδονίας-Θράκης) is a government agency
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
of the Hellenic Republic that is responsible for the Greek regions
Regions of Greece
The traditional geographic divisions of Greece were also the official administrative subdivisions of Greece until the 1987 administrative reform )...
of Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and Thrace.
India
The term agency in India has several meanings; for example, the Cabinet and the parliamentCabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
Secretariat describes itself as a "nodal agency for coordination amongst the ministries of the Govt. of India". Most notably as an international feature, what appear to be independent agencies (or apex agencies) include some that have active roles for Ministers: such as, the National Security Council
National Security Council (India)
The National Security Council of India is the apex agency looking into the political, economic, energy and strategic security concerns of India...
, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
Indian Council of Agricultural Research
Indian Council of Agricultural Research , New Delhi, India is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India...
, and the Planning Commission, which is chaired ex-officio by the Prime Minister.
Sweden
The Government agencies in Sweden are state controlled organizations who act independently to carry out the policies of the Swedish Government. The Government Ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to control agencies by policy decisions but not by direct orders. A Minister is explicitly prohibited from interfering with the day-to-day operation in an agency or the outcome in individual cases. While no minister is allowed to give orders to agencies personally, they are subject to decisions made by the Government.United Kingdom
Agencies in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
are either executive agencies
Executive agency
An executive agency, also known as a next-step agency, is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate in order to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland...
answerable to government ministers or non-departmental public bodies
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
answerable directly to one of the parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
s or devolved assemblies
Deliberative assembly
A deliberative assembly is an organization comprising members who use parliamentary procedure to make decisions. In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the English Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became the basic term for a body of...
of the United Kingdom.
Agencies can be created by enabling legislation by the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
or the National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
.
Agencies in England usually answer to Westminster or the British Government. In Scotland they usually answer to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliament and in Wales to the National Assembly for Wales.
Some have remits that cover the entire UK and these organisations are funded by and answer to the British Government.
United States
The Congress and President of the United StatesPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
delegate specific authority to government agencies to regulate
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
the complex facets of the modern American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
federal state
Federal republic
A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. A federation is the central government. The states in a federation also maintain the federation...
. Also, most of the 50 U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s have created similar government agencies.
The term "government agency" or "administrative agency" usually applies to one of the independent agencies of the United States government
Independent agencies of the United States government
Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...
, which exercise some degree of independence from the President's control. Although the heads of independent agencies are often appointed by the President, they can usually be removed only for cause. The heads of independent agencies work together in groups, such as a commission, board or council. Independent agencies often function as miniature versions of the tripartite
Separation of powers under the United States Constitution
Separation of powers is a political doctrine originating from the United States Constitution, according to which the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States government are kept distinct in order to prevent abuse of power. This U.S...
federal government with the authority to legislate
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
(through the issuing, or "promulgation" of regulation
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
s), to adjudicate
Adjudication
Adjudication is the legal process by which an arbiter or judge reviews evidence and argumentation including legal reasoning set forth by opposing parties or litigants to come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between the parties involved....
disputes, and to enforce agency regulations (through enforcement personnel). Examples of independent agencies include the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...
(SEC), the National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...
(NLRB) and the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
(FTC).
A broader definition of the term "government agency" also means the United States federal executive departments
United States Federal Executive Departments
The United States federal executive departments are among the oldest primary units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States—the Departments of State, War, and the Treasury all being established within a few weeks of each other in 1789.Federal executive...
that include the President's cabinet-level departments
United States Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
, and their sub-units. Examples of these agencies include the Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
(DOE) and the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
(IRS), which is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
.
Most federal agencies are created by Congress through statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
s called "enabling act
Enabling act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it for authorization or legitimacy the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to carry out specific government policies in a modern nation...
s" which define the scope of an agency's authority. Because the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
does not expressly mention federal agencies (as it does the three branches), some commentators have called agencies the "headless fourth branch" of the federal government. However, most independent agencies are technically part of the executive branch, with a few located in the legislative branch of government. By enacting the Administrative Procedure Act
Administrative Procedure Act
The Administrative Procedure Act , , is the United States federal law that governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government of the United States may propose and establish regulations. The APA also sets up a process for the United States federal courts to directly review...
(APA) in 1946, Congress established some means to oversee government agency action. The APA established uniform administrative law
Administrative law
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...
procedures for a federal agency's promulgation of rules, and adjudication of claims. The APA also sets forth the process for judicial review
Judicial review
Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...
of agency action.
See also
- Classification of the Functions of GovernmentClassification of the Functions of GovernmentClassification of the Functions of Government is a classification defined by the United Nations Statistics Division. These functions are designed to be general enough to apply to the government of different countries. The accounts of each country in the United Nations are presented under these...
- Government authority
- Federal agencyGovernment-owned corporationA government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
- Crown corporation
- Government-owned corporationGovernment-owned corporationA government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
- Non-departmental public bodyNon-departmental public bodyIn the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
- Public bodies
- Regulatory agency
- Statutory Agency
- Statutory corporationStatutory CorporationA statutory corporation or public body is a corporation created by statute. While artificial legal personality is almost always the result of statutory intervention, a statutory corporation does not include corporations owned by shareholders whose legal personality derives from being registered...
Further reading
- Machinery of Government Reform: Principles and Practice in "The Organisation of Central Government Departments: A History 1964-1992", ESRC Whitehall Programme at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. (accessed June 9, 2006)