---
title: "Political Accountability"
type: Legal Term
source: https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/political-accountability
---

# Political Accountability

A structural constitutional principle central to administrative law holding that those who exercise government power must be accountable to the electorate through the political process. In the administrative state, political accountability is maintained through the President's power to appoint and remove agency heads (under the Appointments Clause and the Take Care Clause), congressional oversight through appropriations, confirmation hearings, and legislative mandates, and judicial review of agency action. The Supreme Court in Bowsher v. Synar (1986) invalidated a statutory scheme that gave a congressional agent executive powers, holding that Congress cannot retain removal power over an officer performing executive functions. The tension between agency independence and political accountability animates debates over the constitutionality of independent agencies and removal protections.

## Related Terms

- delegation-doctrine-nondelegation
- major-questions-doctrine
- agency-discretion
- ultra-vires

## Related Cases

- bowsher-v-synar
- ala-schechter-poultry-corp-v-united-states

## Example

In Bowsher v. Synar, the Court struck down the Gramm-Rudman Act's delegation of budget-cutting authority to the Comptroller General because, as an officer removable by Congress, he could not exercise executive functions without violating separation of powers and undermining presidential political accountability.

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Source: [Political Accountability — CaseBriefly](https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/political-accountability)