Legislatures delegate unresolved political conflicts downward to administrators.

Evidence

In a lack of moral and congressional responsibility, Congress evaded taking a vote on whether or not the nation should go to war. House Speaker John Boehner shifted the responsibility to the president, claiming that he already had the authority to do so. The House would not address the issue, he explained, unless the president requested it (Baker & Knowlton, 2014). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2470 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

(Indeed, the development of standards for client treatment, rights to appeal, and procedures for administrative regularity seem to develop in proportion to client allegations of arbitrariness and unfair treatment. By developing procedural rules agencies may in fact protect the rights of some clients, but they also gain legitimacy in continuing to act with most clients as they did before.) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 349 (#builds-on, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Procedural rules proliferate in response to client complaints yet leave core agency practice unchanged. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 349; Legislators displace responsibility for war onto the executive to avoid accountability — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2470; Deliberate administrative chaos absorbs opposition and enables rule without visible change (+2 more)

Related

• Legislators displace responsibility for war onto the executive to avoid accountability (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Legislators displace responsibility for war onto the executive to avoid accountability #exemplifies (0.85) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2470
• Deliberate administrative chaos absorbs opposition and enables rule without visible change #complicates (0.75)