The reality of public administration is far too complex for Congressmen to be able to comprehend it fully and evaluate it. They cannot act without trusting in the personal integrity of the members of the administration. Hence representatives do not in practice exercise control over the factual circumstances but rather over the extent to which they are prepared to trust, and only through this are they able to exercise indirect control over the factual situation. Under these rather constrained circumstances, they react with great emotional intensity to the slightest sign of dishonesty through withdrawing trust, and through other sanctions.

XREF: Connects to principal-agent theory and the limits of legislative oversight; also echoes trust-based theories of governance.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 160