The Legal Basis of Delegation of Governmental Powers in a Changing Society

In modern states, the delegation of governmental powers is a common way of executing governmental authority. The delegation of administrative power is widespread under China's positive law, but there are problems with inconsistencies in the scope of the delegation, conflicts between delegation under different laws, etc. These problems originate in the weakness of Chinese legal theory on the subject, and especially in the lack of a dynamic interpretation of the historical background to such delegation, the absence of any scientifically constructed theoretical model of delegation, and the lack of effective regulations on delegation in the positive law system. The modern rule of law calls for reconstruction of the legal basis of such delegation against the background of social change. This requires clarifying the determinacy of the agents holding power, the relative division of powers, the overlapping nature of the agents to whom the powers apply, and the social character of the disposition of powers. Determination of the value orientation of system construction for the delegation of governmental powers should be based on limited transfer of governmental powers and functions, should be driven by the removal of obstacles to the exercise of governmental powers, should adopt a strategy of streamlining the execution of governmental powers and should aim at effectively integrating governmental powers.