Legal Definitions - delegation of powers

Delegation of Powers

Delegation of powers refers to the legal process where one branch of government formally transfers some of its authority or responsibilities to another branch of government or to a specialized administrative agency.

This transfer allows the receiving entity to exercise specific powers that originally belonged to the delegating branch. It is often done to enable more efficient governance, leverage specialized expertise, or manage complex issues that require detailed rule-making beyond what a legislative body can practically achieve.

Here are some examples:

• Environmental Regulation: Imagine Congress passes a broad law aimed at protecting clean air. Instead of writing every single technical detail about permissible pollutant levels for every industry, Congress includes a provision that delegates authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish specific, detailed emission standards for factories and vehicles.

  This illustrates delegation of powers because the legislative branch (Congress) has transferred its authority to create detailed rules (a form of law-making in a specific context) to an administrative agency (the EPA) within the executive branch, allowing the agency to use its scientific expertise to set precise standards.

• Trade Policy: Congress might pass a law that empowers the President (the head of the executive branch) to impose tariffs on goods from countries that are found to be engaging in unfair trade practices, within certain defined parameters and after specific investigations.

  This illustrates delegation of powers because the legislative branch (Congress) has transferred a specific economic power (the ability to impose tariffs) to the executive branch (the President) to be exercised under particular conditions, rather than Congress having to pass a new law for every single tariff decision.