No insulation: politics and technocracy's troubled trajectory

Khoo Boo Teik

No 236, IDE Discussion Papers from Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO)

Abstract: Technocracy often holds out the promise of rational, disinterested decision-making.Yet states look to technocracy not just for expert inputs and calculated outcomes but to embed the exercise of power in many agendas, policies and programs. Thus, technocracy operates as an appendage of politically constructed structures and configurations of power, and highly placed technocrats cannot be 'mere' backroom experts who supply disinterested rational-technical solutions in economic planning, resource allocation and social distribution, which are inherently political. This paper traces the trajectories of technocracy in conditions of rapid social transformation, severe economic restructuring, or political crises - when the technocratic was unavoidably political.

Keywords: Developing countries; Internal politics; Economic policy; Public officers; Ruling classes; Technocracy; Technocrats; Economic crises; Structural adjustment; Politics in Chile; Indonesia; The Philippines; Neoliberalism; Populism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in IDE Discussion Paper = IDE Discussion Paper, No. 236. 2010-05

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