Democrazia e tecnocrazie. Attori, contingenze e confini (ambigui)

The study of the relationship between democracy and technocracy is ancient and has led to look at several levels of the problem: (I) the «non- or post- representative» legitimacy; (II) the weight of the non-majoritarian institutions that result resulting from it; (III) the role of non-political actors in competing to influence decisions binding the community and, finally, (IV) the role of expert knowledge in public policy. The analysis has highlighted the tensions and outcomes of the relationship between political power and technical-scientific knowledge, which materialised in a wide range of knowledge production activities and use of skills. This shows the loosening of the boundaries between knowledge based on pure scientific evidence ("epistème"), know-how competence ("technè") and experience ("phrònesis"), so depressing the connection between political or policy action with the party dimension. The review of a controversial and conflict-ridden relationship has differed in relevance according to historical phases. That of the present time can be summarised by a few key words: crises, and the related windows of opportunities, the legitimisation of choices and the quality of democracy. What emerges is the «ambiguous evolution of technical government» in the investiture of choices and vice versa, with dilemmas concerning the boundary and the mutual delegation of responsibility: technocracy, as the politicised declination of the abstraction of the power of the wise, thus ends up having impacts at the level of politics, policy and polity. The contribution explores this boundary and the ambiguous evolutions of the resulting hybrid, here declined in the plural (technocracies), developing a review of definitions current definitions and evolutions that have taken place within the democratic regime, in order to provide an analytical grid of emerging technocratic forms and emerging technocratic forms and their empirical referents.