History
Early examples of organizations that would now be termed a government agency include the British Navy Board, responsible for ships and supplies, which was established in 1546 by King Henry VIII and the British "Commissioners of Bankruptcy" established in 1570.
From 1933, the New Deal saw rapid growth in US federal agencies, the "alphabet agencies" as they were used to deliver new programs mandated by legislation, such as federal emergency relief.
From the 1980s, as part of New Public Management, several countries including Australia and the United Kingdom developed the use of agencies to improve efficiency in public services.
Read more about this topic: Government Agency
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“To history therefore I must refer for answer, in which it would be an unhappy passage indeed, which should shew by what fatal indulgence of subordinate views and passions, a contest for an atom had defeated well founded prospects of giving liberty to half the globe.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“In nature, all is useful, all is beautiful. It is therefore beautiful, because it is alive, moving, reproductive; it is therefore useful, because it is symmetrical and fair. Beauty will not come at the call of a legislature, nor will it repeat in England or America its history in Greece. It will come, as always, unannounced, and spring up between the feet of brave and earnest men.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)