The Demand for Expertise: The Consequences of Citizens’ Technocratic Preferences for Electoral Behaviour

While technocratic governance has always been thought of as imposed from above, there is increasing evidence of a ‘demand side’ to technocracy, with citizens requesting more independent expertise in political decision-making. This paper investigates the determinants and effects of support for technocratic governance in a comparative perspective. It uses novel survey data from nine European democracies. Given that technocratic political actors seldom participate in the field of electoral politics, the paper traces and explains the electoral behaviour of citizens with technocratic preferences. It shows that this group splits their electoral support between populist parties, motivated by their strong anti-politics, and established center-left parties, motivated by their aversion to populism. It concludes with a discussion of the problems currently plaguing party-based representative democracy.