New Political Spaces? Enhancing the Legitimacy of Delegated Agencies

本研究课题将探讨如何提高委托代理机构的合法性。委托机构的例子包括林业委员会等非部级部门、环境局等非部级公共机构以及欧洲银行管理局等欧洲机构。这些机构或“半官方机构”提供了一系列实际好处，如履行长期政策承诺，建立决策专门知识，并帮助减少中央政府的负担。然而，与此同时，他们往往在民主合法性方面遇到问题，因为他们不能要求获得与政治家相同的选举授权。该研究项目将研究如何提高机构的合法性，或使其更加强大，从而如何最大限度地发挥其对治理的好处。特别是，该研究着眼于如何通过与利益相关者，媒体和更广泛的公众的外部参与来增强合法性，重点关注英国和欧盟层面三个政策领域（卫生技术监管，疾病控制和预防以及食品安全）的六个授权机构。通过对利益相关者的调查，半结构化访谈以及对媒体报道和机构文件的分析，研究将研究机构与公众接触的策略，以及这些策略是否有助于提高对机构的信任和信心。然后，该项目将提出建议，说明各机构如何采取更好的参与战略，以增强公众的信任和信心，并提高其合法性。将为各机构举办讲习班并编写政策文件，以帮助各机构执行该项目的建议。此外，PI将通过举办公共活动，撰写在线博客文章，并制作关于当代治理合法性问题的事实纪录片，将该项目的具体学术主题转化为更广泛的讨论主题，以提高公众对复杂形式的授权治理的认识和理解。

This research project will examine how to improve the legitimacy of delegated agencies. Examples of delegated agencies range from Non-ministerial Departments like the Forestry Commission, to Non-departmental Public Bodies such as the Environment Agency, and European agencies like the European Banking Authority. These agencies or 'quangos' offer a range of practical benefits such as meeting long-term policy commitments, instituting expertise in policymaking, and helping to reduce overload on central government. At the same time, however, they often suffer from problems relating to their democratic legitimacy, as they cannot claim the same electoral mandate as politicians. This research project will examine ways in which the legitimacy of agencies can be improved, or made more robust, and hence how the benefits they have for governance can be maximised. In particular, the research looks at how legitimacy can be enhanced via external engagement with stakeholders, the media, and the wider public, focusing on six delegated agencies at the UK and EU levels in three policy areas (health technology regulation, disease control and prevention, and food safety). Through a mixture of surveys of stakeholders, semi-structured interviews, and analysis of media coverage and agency documents, the research will examine what strategies agencies have for engaging with the public, and whether those strategies help improve trust and confidence in the agencies. The project will then produce recommendations for how agencies may adopt improved strategies for engagement to enhance public trust and confidence and increase their levels of legitimacy. Workshops with agencies and policy documents will be produced to help agencies implement the recommendations from the project. Moreover, the PI will engage more widely with the public by holding a public event, writing online blog posts, and producing a factual documentary on the issue of legitimacy in contemporary governance, translating the specific academic themes of the project into broader topics of discussion for enhancing public knowledge and understanding of complex forms of delegated governance.