The defining feature of modern democracy (in contrast to democracy in Ancient Greece, which it does not resemble) is that it establishes a government that responds to the needs and desires of the populace. It uses two mechanisms to achieve this goal, both of which are historical developments that rose to dominance in Britain at the end of the eighteenth century. The first is representation, where government policy is made by elected representatives. The second is administration, where policy is implemented by specialized agencies staffed by full-time, credentialed officials. In a modern, technological society, it is impossible for a government to respond to the needs and desires of the people without such agencies. They are thus a central and essential component of modern democracy.
Professor Edward Rubin of Vanderbilt University will discuss this paper’s role of the agency. The first agency is a historical predecessor of modern agencies, and the second is a characteristic example in the modern world.
