Technocracy

Technocracy is a form of <a href="/facts/Government/N4bYL0VC">government</a> in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tradition of other <a href="/facts/Meritocracy/EJ4NQUtY">meritocratic</a> theories and works best when the state exerts strong control over social and economic issues.
This system is sometimes presented as explicitly contrasting with <a href="/facts/Representative_Democracy/svAbpym5">representative democracy</a>, the notion that elected representatives should be the primary decision-makers in government, despite the fact that technocracy does not imply eliminating elected representatives. In a technocracy, decision-makers rely on individuals and institutions possessing specialized knowledge and data-based evidence rather than advisors with political affiliations or loyalty.
The term technocracy was initially used to signify the application of the <a href="/facts/Scientific_method/182j8RWE">scientific method</a> to solving social problems. In its most extreme form, technocracy is an entire <a href="/facts/Government/N4bYL0VC">government</a> running as a technical or engineering problem and is mostly <a href="/facts/Hypothesis/gMABEJul">hypothetical</a>. In more practical use, technocracy is any portion of a <a href="/facts/Bureaucracy/V9oFPCuG">bureaucracy</a> run by <a href="/facts/Civic_technologist/eP1HrsQU">technologists</a>. A government in which elected officials appoint experts and professionals to administer individual government functions, and recommend legislation, can be considered technocratic. Some uses of the word refer to a form of <a href="/facts/Meritocracy/EJ4NQUtY">meritocracy</a>, where the most suitable are placed in charge, ostensibly without the influence of special interest groups. 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".

Technocracy open-in-new

Technocracy