The expertocratic shortcut

Abstract

Lafont rightly criticizes the expertocratic shortcut, i.e. the expectation that citizens blindly defer to experts. This shortcut is based on the assumptions that citizens are generally politically ignorant. I will argue that it is necessary to address not only the political ignorance of citizens, but also that of politicians, scientific experts and entrepreneurs. Just like politicians, scientific experts often show political ignorance towards citizens. This is the case if they do not consider the perspective of citizens in politically charged research. Unlike Lafont, I believe that if citizens are expected to blindly defer to politicians, there is no expertocratic shortcut, but a form of authoritarianism that fosters populism. Lafont overlooks an expertocratic shortcut: scientific experts who expect politicians to blindly defer to them, i.e. to accept the agenda they set. It is noteworthy that neither Lafont nor her opponents defending an expertocratic shortcut explicitly discuss the tension between capitalism and democracy. They should do so in order to explain which citizens are ignorant and bypassed, and which are not. The socio-economic inequalities inherent in capitalism correspond to the degree of political interest and participation of citizens. Entrepreneurs are often not only politically ignorant towards citizens, but also towards politicians and scientific experts. Their political ignorance is due to the fact that they are most often in a dominant position where politicians, scientific experts and citizens depend on them. This can be traced back to what I call the neoliberal shortcut: the expectation that actors blindly defer to the markets.