1. There isn't a single country in the world that does not use policy as the cornerstone of day-to-day governance, procedure, and enforcement.
2. There can be arbitrary changes to law too, with a change in power.
You have numerous forms of redress when you feel that policy is incompatible with law. You can ask the agency in question. You can ask a legislator to pressure the agency. You can ask a legislator to write an explicit law. You can take the agency to court. You can elect an executive that can lay down policy requirements on their subservient agencies.
There's a very unfortunate political meme in this country, that frequently repeats the lie that policy (executive or otherwise) is not the product of elected government. Like any magical spell, if repeated loudly, and frequently enough, I suppose its disciples might will it into being.
When you don't like how the state's prosecutor's office works, in this country, you can elect a new head prosecutor, who will make changes in their department. When you don't like how the federal prosecutor's office works, in this country, you can elect a new executive. All of these agencies under thus, under direct democratic control.
> 2. There can be arbitrary changes to law too, with a change in power.
Arbitrary changes to law aren't retroactive in general. If you did something in the past that has later become illegal, you can't be prosecuted.
The same doesn't apply for policy changes.
There is no prohibition on the legislature passing civil ex-post-facto laws, only criminal.
Agencies can only enforce ex-post-facto policy changes if congress explicitly authorized them to.
... Also, as Matt Levine points out, executive agencies are prohibited by law from making capricious and arbitrary policy changes. Congress is not bound by any such restrictions - it can pass legislature that is as capricious and arbitrary, and as completely devoid of public input as it likes.
2. There can be arbitrary changes to law too, with a change in power.
You have numerous forms of redress when you feel that policy is incompatible with law. You can ask the agency in question. You can ask a legislator to pressure the agency. You can ask a legislator to write an explicit law. You can take the agency to court. You can elect an executive that can lay down policy requirements on their subservient agencies.
There's a very unfortunate political meme in this country, that frequently repeats the lie that policy (executive or otherwise) is not the product of elected government. Like any magical spell, if repeated loudly, and frequently enough, I suppose its disciples might will it into being.
When you don't like how the state's prosecutor's office works, in this country, you can elect a new head prosecutor, who will make changes in their department. When you don't like how the federal prosecutor's office works, in this country, you can elect a new executive. All of these agencies under thus, under direct democratic control.