Table Of ContentRoutledge Research on Social and Political Elites
THE TECHNOCRATIC
CHALLENGE TO DEMOCRACY
Edited by
Eri Bertsou and Daniele Caramani
The Technocratic Challenge
to Democracy
This book represents the first comprehensive study of how technocracy currently
challenges representative democracy and asks how technocratic politics
undermines democratic legitimacy. How strong is its challenge to democratic
institutions?
The book offers a solid theory and conceptualization of technocratic poli-
tics and the technocratic challenge is analyzed empirically at all levels of the
national and supra-national institutions and actors, such as cabinets, parties,
the EU, independent bodies, central banks and direct democratic campaigns in
a comparative and policy perspective. It takes an in-depth analysis addressing
elitism, meritocracy, de-politicization, efficiency, neutrality, reliance on science
and distrust toward party politics and ideologies, and their impact when pitched
against democratic responsiveness, accountability, citizens’ input and pluralist
competition. In the current crisis of democracy, this book assesses the effects of
the technocratic critique against representative institutions, which are perceived
to be unable to deal with complex and global problems. It analyzes demands for
competent and responsible policy making in combination with the simultaneous
populist resistance to experts.
The book will be of key interest to scholars and students of comparative poli-
tics, political theory, policy analysis, multi-level governance as well as practitio-
ners working in bureaucracies, media, think-tanks and policy making.
Eri Bertsou is Postdoctoral Researcher in Comparative Politics at the University
of Zurich, Switzerland.
Daniele Caramani is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of
Zurich, Switzerland.
Routledge Research on Social and Political Elites
Who are the elites that run the world? This series of books analyses who the elites
are, how they rise and fall, the networks in which they operate and the effects
they have on our lives.
Series Editors: Keith Dowding and Patrick Dumont,
Australian National University, Australia.
Ministerial Survival during Political and
Cabinet Change
Foreign Affairs, Diplomacy and War
Alejandro Quiroz Flores
Government Formation and Minister Turnover
in Presidential Cabinets
Comparative Analysis in the Americas
Edited by Marcelo Camerlo and Cecilia Martínez-Gallardo
The Selection of Politicians in Times of Crisis
Edited by Xavier Coller, Guillermo Cordero, and
Antonio M. Jaime-Castillo
National Political Elites, European Integration and the
Eurozone Crisis
Edited by Nicolò Conti, Borbála Göncz and José Real-Dato
Semi-presidentialism, Parliamentarism and Presidents
Presidential Politics in Central Europe
Miloš Brunclík and Michal Kubát
The Contested Status of Political Elites
At the Crossroads
Edited by Lars Vogel, Ronald Gebauer and Axel Salheiser
The Technocratic Challenge to Democracy
Edited by Eri Bertsou and Daniele Caramani
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Research-on-Social-and-Political-Elites/book-series/RRSPE
The Technocratic
Challenge to Democracy
Edited by
Eri Bertsou and Daniele Caramani
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 selection and editorial matter, Eri Bertsou and Daniele
Caramani; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Eri Bertsou and Daniele Caramani to be identified as the
author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Bertsou, Eri, editor. | Caramani, Daniele, 1968- editor.
Title: The technocratic challenge to democracy / edited by Eri Bertsou and
Daniele Caramani.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019052665 (print) | LCCN 2019052666 (ebook) | ISBN
9780367358280 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429342165 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Democracy. | Technocracy. | Technology and state.
Classification: LCC JC423 .T347 2020 (print) | LCC JC423 (ebook) | DDC
321.8--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019052665
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019052666
ISBN: 978-0-367-35828-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-34216-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Lumina Datamatics Limited
Contents
List of figures vii
List of tables viii
List of contributors x
Preface and acknowledgements xiv
Abbreviations xvii
Introduction: the technocratic challenge to democracy 1
DANIELE CARAMANI
PART I
Concepts and theory 27
1 Technocracy and political theory 29
CHRISTOPHER BICKERTON AND CARLO INVERNIZZI ACCETTI
2 Neoliberal technocracy: the challenge to democratic
self-government 44
IGNACIO SÁNCHEZ-CUENCA
3 Technocracy and depoliticization 61
PIER DOMENICO TORTOLA
4 Technocratic responsiveness 75
REINOUT VAN DER VEER
5 Measuring technocracy 91
ERI BERTSOU AND DANIELE CARAMANI
vi Contents
PART II
Institutions, actors and policies 111
6 Technocratic cabinets 113
MARCO VALBRUZZI
7 Technocrats in cabinets and their policy effects 131
DESPINA ALEXIADOU
8 Technocratic cabinets in European negotiations 148
SILVANA TÂRLEA AND STEFANIE BAILER
9 Technocracy in discourse: the case of direct democracy 164
JEAN NAVA, MIGUEL ÁNGEL CENTENO AND LARRY LIU
10 Technocracy and the policy process 183
CLAIRE A. DUNLOP AND CLAUDIO M. RADAELLI
PART III
Comparative perspectives 197
11 The EU between technocratic and democratic legitimacy 199
MARINA COSTA LOBO AND IAN MCMANUS
12 Technocracy in Latin America: between stability
and democratic deficit 216
EDUARDO DARGENT
13 Technocracy in Central/Eastern Europe and its impact on
democratization 232
JOSHUA A. TUCKER AND JAN ZILINSKY
Conclusion—Technocracy and democracy: friends or foes? 247
ERI BERTSOU
Appendix 271
References 279
Index 312
Figures
I.1 The triangular relationship between representative democracy,
technocracy and populism 20
4.1 Strategic interaction between a technocratic executive and its
environment 81
5.1 Attitudes towards experts in governance 102
5.2 Partyness of government in Western Europe, 1945–2012 104
5.3 Central bank independence: Index of Central Bank Independence
in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development) countries 106
6.1 Graphical configurations of the concept of technocracy as a
“radial” category 115
6.2 Technocraticness of government in EU-28 member states (%),
1945–2018 128
7.1 Professional background of finance and social affairs ministers 138
7.2 Predicted number of economic reforms by technocrat finance
ministers 143
9.1 Three-dimensional typology for regimes 168
9.2 Number of news updates by month for both campaigns 171
9.3 Topic prevalence and top topic terms in corpus 173
9.4 Difference in topic prevalence by campaign: Stronger in Europe
minus Vote Leave 174
9.5 Word choice by campaign for “Groups Backing Campaign” Topic 176
9.6 World choice by campaign for “Cost” topic 177
9.7 Word choice by campaign for “Movement” topic 178
9.8 Difference in topical content for Topics 19 and 20 179
10.1 Expanding the epistemic mode 188
10.2 Conceptualizing knowledge modes as policy learning 192
11.1 “The EU or the IMF are the most effective for solving
the economic and financial crisis”: percentage who agree
(EMU average vs. GIIPS average, 2009−13) 207
Tables
3.1 Technocracy and depoliticization: a unified conceptual framework 73
5.1 A typology of research in technocratic politics 95
5.2 Classification of elite profiles 97
5.3 Codebook for the analysis of technocratic discourse (excerpt) 99
6.1 A typology of “technocratic categories” 117
6.2 Technocrat-led governments in EU-28 member states, 1945–2018 120
6.3 Non-caretaker technocrat-led governments and their policies 124
6.4 A typology of technocrat-led governments 125
6.5 Types of technocrat-led governments in EU-28 member states,
1945–2018 127
7.1 Frequency of technocrats and experts in the portfolios of finance
and social affairs (1980–2012) 139
7.2 The role of technocrat finance ministers in economic reforms 141
7.3 The role of social affairs ministers in social welfare reforms 142
7.4 The role of finance ministers in public social spending, old-age
pensions and health 144
7.5 The role of expert finance ministers in public social spending,
old-age pensions and health 145
7.6 The role of experienced finance ministers in public social spending,
old-age pensions and health 146
8.1 List of technocratic governments during the Eurocrisis years 149
8.2 Average government position during EMU reform negotiations
2010–15 154
8.3 Rejections and formal statements in the EU Council of Ministers 156
8.4 Unpopular reforms after a technocratic government came to power 158
9.1 Topics discussed in depth 175
10.1 Degenerations of epistemic learning 189
10.2 Possible roles of experts 193
11.1 Support for technocracy as crisis manager in the Eurozone (2009–14) 206
11.2 GIIPS country models 209
11.3 Centre and left effects in countries with governmental bailouts
(2010, 2014) 212
Tables ix
13.1 Main results: Government evaluation and experience with
technocracy 240
13.2 Views about government performance improvement 241
13.3 Openness to authoritarianism (LiTS data) 242
A.1 List of issues (Chapter 8) 271
A.2 Topic model results: top 20 terms by estimated probability,
all topics (Chapter 9) 273
A.3 Full model specification of Table 13.1: Government evaluation
and experience with technocracy (Chapter 13) 276
A.4 Full model specification of Table 13.2: Views about government
performance improvement (Chapter 13) 277
