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Philosophy

Technocratic Governance and Its Challenge to Democratic Accountability

Quick fact

In many democracies, independent central banks, which are unelected, have the power to set interest rates that affect millions of people's mortgages and jobs—a clear example of technocratic authority embedded in a democratic system.

Why this is interesting

You trust your doctor to prescribe medicine, but would you trust her to set national health policy? If you hesitate, you've hit the paradox of technocracy: we want experts in charge, yet we also want to keep control.