Who Are the Technocrats? From the Technostructure to Technocratic Government

Abstract

The chapter deals with the issue of how to identify technocrats outside and within the political system and determine the nature and extent of political influence. Drawing on organizational sociology, elite research and comparative politics, the chapter maps the available answers, from the most general idea of the ‘technostructure’ to the specific (and rare) occurrence of a fully technocratic government.