Discretion

Discretion is an issue of interest not only to political scientists but also to scholars of public administration, law, and organizations. In everyday language, using one's discretion refers simply to the employment of good judgment, caution, or care in decision making and, hence, is normally juxtaposed with acting according to formal standards or rules. Political scientists are interested in the exercise of discretion delegated to politicians by their electorate, but it is normally within the administrative realm that the issue of discretion (and the related matter of decision-making legitimacy) provokes most debate and discussion. This is because considerable discretionary authority tends to be granted to bureaucracies in order to make and implement policy, as legislatures are content to delegate the implementation of agreed policy to those at the “street level.” For students of public administration, therefore, discretion can be defined as the autonomy extended to bureaucrats to implement or disregard a law in accordance with the principles established in a political arena for that law, based on values appropriate to the public interest. Those who exercise bureaucratic discretion range from effective standard setters (including regulators) who exercise considerable discretionary authority to those enjoying more limited authority when applying established standards to individual situations.

Historically, as a core concept in law and latterly in public administration, discretion has been examined by way of consideration of the different external mechanisms used for its limitation and control, including legislative oversight, executive command, and judicial review. As the scope of state power has expanded, it is the role of the judicial system in limiting discretionary behavior that, however, has generated an almost universal debate. Indeed, much of contemporary writing on the issue of discretion stems from legal theory with a strong focus on the role of law in policy implementation. For lawyers and legal philosophers, there is considerable discussion as to how and why the state's administrators, from police “on the beat” to judges in courtrooms, determine the public interest and exercise their discretion. This literature is concerned with the relationship between discretion and various conceptions of justice. Key questions include how much discretion, if at all, should be granted, how will it be granted, and, more fundamentally, who will decide on the public interest?