Original
Informal Authority, Legitimacy Transition, and Institutional Change: A Theory of Advisory Capture
Abstract
ABSTRACT How do informal actors achieve rapid bureaucratic dismantlement without formal authority? Analyzing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, this article argues that when performance‐based legitimacy displaces procedural legitimacy as the dominant evaluative framework, informal actors can bypass established safeguards and reshape government institutions. Three concepts capture this process: advisory capture , legitimacy regime transition , and constrained coercion . The analysis reveals that dismantlement targets agencies based on political vulnerability rather than functional logic, that informal authority becomes institutionalized through formal rulemaking such as the Schedule Policy/Career rule, and that judicial review operates as ongoing contestation rather than definitive constraint. Protecting democratic governance requires defending not only formal rules but the legitimacy regimes within which those rules derive meaning.
中文
非正式权威、合法性转型与制度变迁：一种咨询俘获理论
摘要
摘要 非正式行为者如何在没有正式权威的情况下实现快速的官僚机构拆解？本文分析政府效率部（DOGE）倡议，认为当基于绩效的合法性取代程序合法性成为主导性评价框架时，非正式行为者能够绕过既有保障机制并重塑政府机构。三个概念刻画了这一过程：咨询俘获、合法性体制转型与受限强制。分析揭示：拆解目标机构的选择基于政治脆弱性而非功能逻辑；非正式权威通过正式规则制定（如 Schedule Policy/Career 规则）而被制度化；司法审查作为持续争议而非决定性约束发挥作用。保护民主治理不仅需要捍卫正式规则，还需要捍卫那些使规则获得意义的合法性体制。
关键词
非正式权威、合法性转型、制度变迁、咨询俘获、官僚拆解、政府效率部、司法审查、民主治理