Technocracy

This article is about the form of government. For other uses, see Technocracy (disambiguation).
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Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. Technocracy follows largely in the tradition of other meritocratic theories and assumes full state control over political and economic issues.[1]

This system explicitly contrasts with representative democracy, the notion that elected representatives should be the primary decision-makers in government,[2] though it does not necessarily imply eliminating elected representatives. Decision-makers are selected based on specialized knowledge and performance rather than political affiliations, parliamentary skills, or popularity.[3]

The term technocracy was initially used to signify the application of the scientific method to solving social problems. In its most extreme form, technocracy is an entire government running as a technical or engineering problem and is mostly hypothetical. In more practical use, technocracy is any portion of a bureaucracy run by technologists. A government in which elected officials appoint experts and professionals to administer individual government functions, and recommend legislation, can be considered technocratic.[4][5] Some uses of the word refer to a form of meritocracy, where the ablest are in charge, ostensibly without the influence of special interest groups.[6] Critics have suggested that a "technocratic divide" challenges more participatory models of democracy, describing these divides as "efficacy gaps that persist between governing bodies employing technocratic principles and members of the general public aiming to contribute to government decision making".[7]

  1. ^ "What Is Technocracy? Definition, How It Works, and Critiques". Investopedia. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  2. ^ Berndt, Ernst R. (1982). "From technocracy to net energy analysis: engineers, economists and recurring energy theories of value" (PDF). Studies in Energy and the American Economy, discussion paper 11. Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/2023.
  3. ^ "Questioning of M. King Hubbert, Division of Supply and Resources, before the Board of Economic Warfare" (PDF). 1943-04-14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2008-05-04. p.35 (p.44 of PDF), p.35
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference minds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "History and Purpose of Technocracy by Howard Scott". Technocracy.org. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009.
  7. ^ Obar, Jonathan A. (2016). "Closing the Technocratic Divide? Activist Intermediaries, Digital Form Letters, and Public Involvement in FCC Policy Making". International Journal of Communication. 10.