Democracy under Technocracy

     On the Jim Bohanon Show the other night (on radio Westwood-1), Fred Siegel of the Manhattan Institute discussed his new book on the "now" Democrats.  Apparently, he argues that the Dems are more interested in promoting the green cause of preserving the planet than in advocating a higher standard of living for the middle class, which was the primary interest of the "old" Democrats.
 
      In the course of the presentation, he alluded to how democracy, as a process of the voting of the citizenry, would be re-conceived, if the "now" democrats were to have their way..  It seems as if the opinions of the people are not as highly valued by "now" Democrats, I take it he would aver.  I think in this he partially is correct, if my interpretation of his observation is correct.

      The problem I think  the "now" democrats are attempting to handle is the role of people's voting in a technocracy, realizing that the technocratic era of government is upon us.  A technocracy is the run of government by an educated elite, trained to make policy decisions that then they administer. No longer are the populace sought for their opinions and input on matters of policy at the stage of implementation.  By way of contrast, under the "old" democratic system, leaders in power would seek to cajole the voting public to adopt and advocate position they would want them to vote for via the ballot box or through the social media.  Thus, it is said, Dick Chaney as Vice President influenced the CIA to promulgate the administration's viewpoint to take over Iraq and end the Dictator's Saddam Hussein rule to the general public.  Indeed, Chaney is thought to have convinced Congress and the voting public that Hussein was developing nuclear capabilities and he was thereby able to gain their support in thinking that the regime had to be taken out immediately through US military action.  At the time, the people voiced overwhelmingly the point of view of the administration and war ensued.  Similarly, it is said that F. D. Roosevelt got us into WWII through his own tactical machinations, so that the people stood totally behind him..

      In any event, the idea under the "old" conception of democracy, that not only Democrats but Republicans operated under, was those in power should garner the support of the voters and the citizens before initiating the particular course of action they favored.  The "now" Democrats, many of whom are familiar with, if not advocating the "new" idea of democracy in a technocratic government, permits administrative agencies to dictate and enforce the policies enunciated by technocrats, which, be it noted, are backed up by scientific and generally accepted business reasons.  That is to say, in a technocracy, policy edicts and rules are the product of scientific and logical examination--even as the cadre of technocrats have so undertaken.  Democracy under technocracy becomes appropriate not at the juncture of decision-making but during the evaluation phase of those policies already in effect.  It becomes part of the process that brings to bear a critical analysis of how well these policies have worked.  In such a structure, citizens' collective experience of living under the rules and regulations of government (administered by technocrats) become an invaluable means in assaying the worthiness of  governmental actions to promote the common good.