Keynote by Anthony Bertelli - 'Values Rather Than Control: Rethinking the Democratic Deficit'

Abstract

How can independent regulators and administrators support democracy? Professor Bertelli begins by locating criteria for responsible action in a democratic theory of administrative responsibility. Independent agencies are structured in many different ways. Recognising this, he argues that varying these structures reshapes what action is necessary for maintaining, but does not shift the underlying criteria for achieving, democratic responsibility. Elaborating this claim sets out an empirical research agenda for the study of democratic performance in the presence of agency independence. Anthony Michael Bertelli is Sherwin-Whitmore Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at the Pennsylvania State University. He is also Senior Research Fellow at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Public Policy, and Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Professor Bertelli studies how politics shapes public policies and how they are implemented, and what that means for democracy. His current work is concentrated on a project about democracy and public administration called REPGOV, which is funded by the European Research Council and runs until December 2026.