Chairs
• Aníbal Zarate: anibal.zarate@uexternado.edu.co

SPEAKERS

Carlos Fernando	Matute González
Eva	Montero Ibarra
Marianella	Ledesma Narvaez
Aníbal	Zarate
Vanessa	Pichler

Independent agencies have been at the center of a crucial debate: Are they compatible with democracy and the separation of powers, or do they contradict them? This question is far from theoretical. It has resurfaced with force in recent years, as governments in several countries have sought to expand executive influence over these institutions – reclaiming regulatory powers, asserting broad discretion to dismiss members of their governing boards, or even abolishing agencies altogether under the pretext of fiscal austerity.

The main question – and the core of this Workshop – is straightforward: Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for independent agencies? Addressing this issue requires examining whether these pressures represent a genuine threat to the preservation of democratic systems, particularly at a time marked by the rise of state-driven populism and the crisis of liberal democracies.

Beyond their impact on environmental or economic regulation, the attacks on independent agencies seem to be part of a broader context of deep divisions, often used to justify, in the name of a “virtuous people” and “unique leaders”, the dismantling of institutional checks and balances. In this narrative, regulators are portrayed as part of a technocratic apparatus, detached from citizens’ concerns and serving the “corrupt elites”.

The crisis facing independent administrative agencies also reflects the crisis of the Regulatory State and its inability to fulfill its foundational promises. Ironically, critics seeking to revive older models of state intervention – whether policing-oriented or welfare-centered – often deepen polarization. In doing so, they reshape public decision-making to favor their own political side, to the detriment of opposing interests.