We just wrapped up the “Bitcoin and Political Economy” panel at the #BitcoinPolicySummit in Washington, D.C. I asked my colleague @avik about the relationship between Congress and the administrative state (esp. federal regulatory agencies) and how that impacts American democracy.
He said something important: the ballooning of federal agencies and their powers has been a result of elected members of Congress wanting to evade political accountability (punishment at the ballot box). If an agency does something unpopular, the Congressman can always point to the Administrator and say, “Hey, it wasn’t me who made this rule! This guy or gal did it!”
This offloading of legislative responsibility is a dereliction of duty on the part of those who were elected to make laws on behalf of the American people. Authoritarianism is as much a function of people wanting to evade responsibility as it is a desire for power. Many elected officials are perfectly content having virtually no power as long as they keep the prestige (appearance of power) of their position.
NSmolenskiFan
npub1qq…y354d
2024-04-10 13:17:21
Author Public Key
npub1qqqqqqx2crupn0c6pfsv3y0wkxfe97v0n82gpy95l6sv55fuazlqfy354dPublished at
2024-04-10 13:17:21Event JSON
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"content": "We just wrapped up the “Bitcoin and Political Economy” panel at the #BitcoinPolicySummit in Washington, D.C. I asked my colleague @avik about the relationship between Congress and the administrative state (esp. federal regulatory agencies) and how that impacts American democracy.\n\nHe said something important: the ballooning of federal agencies and their powers has been a result of elected members of Congress wanting to evade political accountability (punishment at the ballot box). If an agency does something unpopular, the Congressman can always point to the Administrator and say, “Hey, it wasn’t me who made this rule! This guy or gal did it!”\n\nThis offloading of legislative responsibility is a dereliction of duty on the part of those who were elected to make laws on behalf of the American people. Authoritarianism is as much a function of people wanting to evade responsibility as it is a desire for power. Many elected officials are perfectly content having virtually no power as long as they keep the prestige (appearance of power) of their position.",
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