Administrative Procedures Act and Constitutional Principles
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23rd, January 2013
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) controls the functioning of most federal agencies, and it has a great influence in the daily life of millions of American people. This type of legislation is considered one of the most influential legislations to be passed in the United States. However, most of its usefulness and influence on the public policy of the United States continues to go unrecognized over the years. Nonetheless, the influence this piece of legislation has on the functioning of agencies is reflected in the lives of different people, who are also influenced by the agencies. The administrative procedures Act also protects a variety of constitutional principles. However, some of the constitutional principles lack provisions under administrative procedures Act, or are poorly represented by the APA. Nonetheless, this legislation has served, and continues to perform its rightful role, ensuring that it addresses the most important aspects in the country (Harrington & Carter, 2009).
The administrative procedures Act comprises of different laws, which various agencies such as the social security administration, the department of labour, and the environmental protection agency, among others need to adhere to in providing important legislative Acts such as social security Act, the family and medical leave Act, and clean air Act, to their clients, who are the public. This legislation is therefore, mainly concerned with the purpose of controlling and regulating the process of development and issuance of regulations by the federal agencies
The administrative procedures Act serves different functions. However, the major purpose of this Act is to ensure that the agencies keep the public knowledgeable about the organization, their norms, and processes. The APA also provides for participation of the public in the process of informal rulemaking. This legislation also recommends and outlines the standards for formal rulemaking, as well as the adjudicative proceedings. These types of proceedings are those required to be made on the record by the statute, after the hearing by an agency. Another constitutional principle this legislation protects is the process of judicial review. The administrative procedures Act serve the role of restating the law involved in the process of judicial review. Therefore, the greatest constitutional principle, which, the administrative procedure Act protects, is the process of rulemaking and judicial review, even as it also plays a significant role in various processes of regulation (Harrington & Carter, 2009).
The administrative procedures Act has however, not given full address to some constitutional principles. For instance, the question of consumer access to databases has not been addressed by this legislation. Therefore, there has been confusion as this continues to raise privacy concerns among different agencies. Some advocates of privacy have argued that consumers should be granted rights to have access to the correct consumer data in the agency databases, used for the purposes of marketing. However, some have argued that if a legislative mandate was granted for access of consumer data in whatsoever means, this results in more privacy concerns, and does not offer a solution to the problem. Therefore, the administrative procedures Act does not offer a regulation on the consumer data used by agencies. This has resulted in misinformation and divisions in the way this data is handled by different agencies. However, what is important is that agencies should differentiate between consumer data, and the data they use for their purposes of marketing. It is essential that consumer data be protected and not exposed to the public due to the privacy issues that comes with it.
In conclusion, the administrative procedures Act remains an important legislation in the United States. It however, has evolved through the years to accommodate newer needs of the nation. It is through this legislation that individuals’ rights and access to government are ensured. Nonetheless, this legislation continues to influence the public policy as it allows for transparency in the regulatory processes in the government of America.
Reference
Harrington, C. & Carter, L. (2009). Administrative Law and politics Cases and Politics. New
York: CQ Press.
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