Home › MCQs › Governance and Public Policy › Question #10509
Back to Questions
Governance and Public Policy QUESTION #10509
Question 1
The judiciary serves as a check on government agencies primarily through:
  • Holding criminal trials for administrators who violate the law
  • Reviewing the legality of each policy proposal before enactment
  • Writing implementing rules on behalf of agencies
  • Interpreting agency mandates and reviewing the legality of agency actions✔️
Correct Answer Explanation
Courts check administrative agencies through judicial review — scrutinizing whether agency actions are intra vires (within legal authority), procedurally fair, and constitutionally sound. Courts do not pre-approve every agency rule; they respond to challenges brought before them. This power to interpret mandates and annul ultra vires actions is the judiciary's primary check on bureaucratic excess.