2022/02/14 by Pablo Fernández-Vázquez, Sebastián Lavezzolo, Luis Ramiro · 36 citations
Social Sciences · #Democracy #Economics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Extant taxon #Law #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Populism #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Positive economics #Public administration #Social Media and Politics #Sociology #Technocracy
paper · open access · doi:10.1080/01402382.2022.2027116
published in West European Politics 46(1), 73-99 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2022/02/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Populism and technocracy represent a challenge to pluralist party democracies. The first promotes the rule by ‘the people’, while the second demands the rule by independent experts. The literature on populism and technocracy as challenges to party democracy is burgeoning. Less is known about citizens’ attitudes towards the ideas that underpin both populism and technocracy. In this article these opinions are explored in a survey conducted in Spain using a comprehensive battery of items tapping into technocracy and populism. It is found that populist attitudes correlate with two dimensions of technocracy: anti-politics and pro-expertise sentiments. A latent-class analysis shows that the largest sample group simultaneously endorses rule by the people and the enrolment of experts in political decision making. In the article this group is named technopopulists. The article challenges extant views of populism and technocracy as separate alternatives and spurs works on voter demand for the involvement of experts in politics.Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at: 10.1080/01402382.2022.2027116 .