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'Technocracy' ("techno" from the Greek ''tekhne'' for skill, "cracy" from the Greek ''kratos'' for "power") is a governmental or organizational system where decision makers are selected based upon how highly skilled and qualified they are, rather than how much political capital they hold.
'Technocrats' are individuals with technical training and occupations who perceive many important societal problems as being solvable, while proposing technology-focused solutions. The administrative scientist Gunnar K. A. Njalsson theorizes that technocrats are primarily driven by their cognitive "problem-solution mindsets" and only in part by particular occupational group interests. Their activities and the increasing success of their ideas are thought to be a crucial factor behind the modern spread of technology and the largely ideological concept of the "Information Society." Technocrats may be distinguished from "econocrats" and "bureaucrats" whose problem-solution mindsets differ from those of the technocrats.^[1]
A technocracy is a form of ''de facto elitism'', whereby the concepts of "most qualified" and a ruling elite tend to be the same. These elite are selected through bureaucratic processes on the basis of specialized knowledge, rather than through purely democratic elections or other processes.

Contents

Development of term

Governmental form

Criticism of Technocracy

Derogatory usage of Technocrat

Technocracy and democracy

Technocracy and socialism

System of governance

Technocracy in fiction

Footnotes

See also

Development of term

The term "technocracy' was used in the United States as early as 1919 by engineer William H. Smyth in a book ''Industrial Management''. It came into common usage through management theorist James Burnham's 1941 work ''Managerial Revolution''.

Governmental form

A technocratic government is a government by experts designed to ensure administrative functions are carried out effeciently. As a provisional form of oligarchy, in which the economy is regulated by economists, social policy is decided by political scientists, the health care system is run by medical professionals, with the branches of the government working together and sharing knowledge to maximize the performance of each in as equal a way as is feasible. Often, the upper branches of government are organised by logistics experts.
Technocracy is often thought of as 'rule by scientists and engineers,' or bringing these groups into power, though this is only one form of Technocracy.
The general term has been applied to a number of governments, most notably Singapore, Chile under Pinochet, and the current government of the People's Republic of China.

Criticism of Technocracy

Governmental decisions are not only technical, but also political. A correct technical decision may be reached by experts using rational arguments. A correct political decision reflects subjective choices, regarding human values, or an uncertain future.
Socialists charge that neo-liberal structural adjustment policies represent technocrats (such as in the IMF) setting policies in the name of macroeconomic growth without considering how cutting subsidies in developing countries might affect the poor.
A technocrat seeks to optimize efficiency in his particular field of expertise, whereas governmental decisions have to approach matters from different points of view. An environmentalist technocrat may seek to limit pollutants, while one overseeing industry may seek fewer restrictions on pollutant emissions.
Technocracy lacks popular sovereignty. Democratic governments govern in the name of the people, and the people may influence their decisions. Technocracy in its purest form is a variant on the old theme of oligarchy. Even without the assumption that popular sovereignty is good, technocracy, like all oligarchies, may devolve into a self-promoting regime that disregards the objectives that it was supposed to seek.

Derogatory usage of Technocrat

Calling someone a "technocrat" implies that he is part of a bureaucracy where decisions are handed down by unelected officials chosen according to their real or supposed technical knowledge.
A technocrat's decisions lack democratic legitimacy. A technocrat's decisions are often inadequate, because they are taken remotely and do not take into account the actual parameters of the situation. A technocrat's decisions reflect his ideological biases.
Calling someone a "technocrat" may be a positive remark used to refer to professionals with superior technical knowledge who can put aside personal biases and partisan rivalries in order to "get the job done". A foreign minister, who possess superior linguistic skills and knowledge of the world, and who puts aside both his personal interests and the interests of his political party for the sake of serving his country would be a "technocrat" in this positive sense.

Technocracy and democracy

It has been argued that a constant progression to a more technocratic society is inevitable, as many issues have become too complex for most people to easily grasp. Thus, as a theory of civics, it may be suggested that technocracy opposes democracy, which assumes that almost no issues are in fact too complex for most people to grasp. For those who support democracy and oppose technocracy, the increasing complexity of the modern world requires the introduction of increasingly better forms of public education in order to keep the population informed and able to deal with complex issues. An educated population is considered to be the basis of an effective democracy. Ironically, technocracy and its proponents also seek a strong educational system as one of the, if not ''the'' most important element(''s'') of a well functioning society, as a technocratic government relies on the steady "''generation''" of educated individuals. The difference simply lies in that technocracy is far more hierarchical: while democracy holds that a well educated public should be able to make all decisions on its own behalf, technocracy holds that a very well educated public becomes less realistic as the population grows, and that among larger populations, the most effective organisation is a moderately well educated public who are thereby well-equipped to understand, implement, and criticise the policy decisions of a very well educated elite.
A form of government that combines elements of democracy and technocracy is anticipatory democracy, which relies on prediction markets and other such somewhat inclusive means to find the most accurate predictors of scientific and technological trends.
Many Technocrats are also futurist, with a variety of ideals and concepts regarding how a technocratic government could be structured and function. With regards to technocracy as a nationwide system of government, western technocrats often envision democratic forms of technocracy. Some technocrats such as transhumanist Dr. James Hughes envision a "radically democratic" technocratic society of posthumans.

Technocracy and socialism

Many self-identified technocrats are also self-identified socialist. Socialism calls for an economic system based on production for the needs of all of society, with the goal of advancing quality of life for all in an environment of social equality and respect for workers. From this standpoint, opinions are split among socialists as to whether it would be possible for technocracy and socialism to work in concert or whether they are fundamentally opposed. Those who believe that technocracy and socialism can cooperate argue that a body of highly skilled scientists and engineers would be most able to act as economic planners and manage the economy for the benefit of all. Many socialists, however, take a more skeptical view and argue that no matter how skilled technocrats may be, they will always serve their own interests rather than the interests of society as long as they are not placed under democratic control.

System of governance

Technocracy can also refer to a system of governance in which laws are enforced by designing the system such that it is impossible to break them. For instance, to prevent people from riding a tram without paying, the carriage's doors could be designed in such a way that a payment was required to open the doors.
The same idea can be applied on much larger scales, with automated public surveillance by semi-intelligent systems that automatically control or limit the actions of individuals to prevent illegal activity. This is called the carceral state, in which the whole state is effectively a Panopticon - a prison with strict rules, where all individuals are supervised to ensure compliance. Author Charles Stross called this a Panopticon Singularity. In this way, the bureaucratic form of technocracy may be an authoritarian system governance.
The principles of anticipatory design, wayfinding, and B. F. Skinner's vision ''Walden Two'', to some degree echo this potential, but relying on psychology and conditioning exclusively, and not on any intrusive technology to enforce the rules.

Technocracy in fiction

'', a popular roleplaying game published by White Wolf, prominently features the Technocracy, aka the "Technocratic Union", as a shadowy, world-controlling organization similar in principle to (and indeed containing) such conspiracies as the "New World Order", the "Freemasons", and others.
In Frank Herbert's ''Dune'' series, the Ixian society is often referred to as the "Technocrats of Ix."
The animated series Insektors features character Teknocratus as the "chief engineer" to the Yuk society. At one point he creates a computer named Kalkulator, capable of automating a city.
The Archie Sonic Comic features the Dark Legion, an organization of borg-like echidnas that worship technology as the ultimate pinnacle of their society.
A technocratic elite rule the last human city of Bregna in the 2005 movie ''Aeon Flux''.

Footnotes

1. From autonomous to socially conceived technology: toward a causal, intentional and systematic analysis of interests and elites in public technology policy, , Gunnar K. A., Njalsson, Theoria: a journal of political theory,

See also

★ Groupe X-Crise, formed by French former students of the ''Ecole Polytechnique'' engineer school in the 1930s

★ Technocracy movement, a US group formed in the 1930s

★ New class

★ ''The Revolt of the Masses'' a book containing a critique of technocracy