ABSTRACT
In an attempt to improve on the conceptual status quo, this chapter presents a systematic analysis of the technocracy–politics nexus that posits (de)politicization as the main dimension along which different definitions of technocracy vary. It describes a twofold goal: it clarifies the relationship between politics and technocracy, and it formulates a unified conceptual framework for the latter. The chapter looks at their relationship to politics, democracy and the remaining definitions of technocracy. Technocracy ignores, in principle, partisan positions and the existing balance of power to base its conclusions on the state of the art in the relevant area or discipline. Technocracy as a depoliticized decision-making method requires being located, both de jure and de facto, somewhere in the middle region of the spectrum between full dependence and full independence vis-a-vis the majoritarian institutions through which politics operates. In technocracy-as-regime the roles are reversed, with technocrats being usurpers of the real power in the polity, and politicians the victims.
