Understanding public demand for independent experts in democratic politics

(Funding body: Swiss National Foundation)

Summary

Can democratic politics incorporate citizen demands for independent expertise in ways that boost legitimacy and trust in politics? Democratic governments worldwide face the dilemma of how to deal with an ever-increasing call for technocratic expertise needed to govern effectively while remaining responsive to and representative of the citizens who elected them. In the past decade, the economic crisis brought this tension to the forefront of democratic politics, with multiple appointments of technocratic ministers and governments across democratic states and a simultaneous populist backlash against an apparent “out-of-touch” political establishment. More recently, the climate crisis and the global COVID19 pandemic highlighted the role of independent scientific expertise in guiding political decisions, but also the crucial role that citizens’ attitudes play in shaping policy effectiveness and trust in politics. Despite the pressing and complex issues that governments need to address, it is uncertain how democratic politics can include more independent expertise in a way that increases public support for political processes and decisions. 

From the perspective of citizens, we are currently presented with the following empirical puzzle: on the one hand, citizen surveys show growing demands for independent experts over politicians in political decision-making and a recognition that complex global problems require experts to solve them. On the other hand, we observe mounting public skepticism towards technical knowledge and scientific expertise, paired with soaring anti-elite rhetoric stoked by populist actors across established democracies. How can we reconcile these conflicting observable phenomena and what solutions can we offer for reinforcing support for democratic politics? The ‘Varieties of Expertise’ project addresses this puzzle through three key research questions:

  1. What constitutes ‘politically legitimate’ use of expertise and who is considered an “independent expert” in the eyes of citizens?

  2. Why do citizens demand more political power in the hands of independent experts?

  3. How and where do citizens want to see political power in the hands of independent experts?

The proposed project advances a new theoretical approach and empirical study of expert political power in established democracies from the perspective of citizens. It bridges research work in political behaviour, democratic legitimacy, regulatory and public policy studies. The three central research questions of the project will be approached comparatively, using a mixed-methods approach that includes: (i) a cross-national survey of 20 democracies, (ii) qualitative focus groups in four countries of in-depth study (IT, CH, UK, SE), and (iii) experimental methods. 

Overall, the ‘Varieties of Expertise’ project will contribute to efforts to ameliorate public responses to political decisions, decrease political polarization and re-build political trust between citizens and political actors across established democracies. Insights will be highly relevant for scholars and political practitioners concerned with the design of political arrangements that can boost public acceptance of policies in contested areas, such as health, environmental, economic and immigration politics.

Project Updates

Here you can view a recent talk on the progress of the project: “What do citizens consider to be politically legitimate uses of expertise?” Invited talk at the Institute for Future Studies, Sweden, October 4 2023.