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[[Image:Technocracy_smyth.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Smyth first wrote about his ideas of Technocracy in 1919.]]

[[Image:Technocracy_smyth.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Smyth first wrote about his ideas of Technocracy in 1919.]]

A '''Technocracy''' is defined as ''a system in which people with a lot of knowledge about science or technology control a society''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technocracy |title=technocracy: definition  |work=[[Merriam-Webster]] }}</ref>  A technocratic state, or a state controlled by engineers and expertise<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rLiGAAAAMAAJ Technocracy and the Politics of Expertise]</ref>, generally has experts secluded into unelected bureaucracies.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NeJjEkYGF_MC&pg=PA9 The Rise of the Unelected: Democracy and the New Separation of Powers]</ref>

A '''Technocracy''' is defined as ''a system in which people with a lot of knowledge about science or technology control a society''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technocracy |title=technocracy: definition  |work=[[Merriam-Webster]] }}</ref>  A technocratic state, or a state controlled by engineers and expertise,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rLiGAAAAMAAJ Technocracy and the Politics of Expertise]</ref> generally has experts secluded into unelected bureaucracies.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NeJjEkYGF_MC&pg=PA9 The Rise of the Unelected: Democracy and the New Separation of Powers]</ref>

==History==

==History==

===Early Technocrats===

===Early Technocrats===

The origins of ''Technocracy'' have been the subject of some debate, but William Henry Smyth has been generally recognized as having invented the word "technocracy" in 1919 to describe as he put it: "''the rule of the people made effective through the agency of their servants, the scientists and engineers''"<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Barry|title=Sleepers, Wake! Technology and the Future of Work|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=214}}</ref>. Smyth had [[Industrial Democracy]] in mind when he coined the term<ref>{{cite book|last=Smyth|first=William H.|title=Technocracy Parts I-IV., Working Explosively, A Protest Against Mechanistic Efficiency.  Working Explosively Versus Working Efficiently|publisher=Berkeley Gazette|quote=Technocracy Part III., "Technocracy" - Ways and Means To Gain Industrial Democracy}}</ref>.

The origins of ''Technocracy'' have been the subject of some debate, but William Henry Smyth has been generally recognized as having invented the word "technocracy" in 1919 to describe as he put it: "''the rule of the people made effective through the agency of their servants, the scientists and engineers''".<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Barry|title=Sleepers, Wake! Technology and the Future of Work|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=214}}</ref>  Smyth had [[Industrial Democracy]] in mind when he coined the term.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smyth|first=William H.|title=Technocracy Parts I-IV., Working Explosively, A Protest Against Mechanistic Efficiency.  Working Explosively Versus Working Efficiently|publisher=Berkeley Gazette|quote=Technocracy Part III., "Technocracy" - Ways and Means To Gain Industrial Democracy}}</ref>

[[Thorstein Veblen]] is also regarded to be an early father of technocracy<ref name=utopianism>[https://books.google.com/books?id=n6RabZ8t48gC&pg=PA259 Technological Utopianism in American Culture]</ref>, when he called for a ''Soviet of Technicians'' in 1921.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/engineersandpri01veblgoog ''The engineers and the price system ''], by [[Thorstein Veblen]], p. 138</ref>  Other influence upon the formation of ''technocracy'' include [[Edward Bellamy]] and his book [[Looking Backward]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1kvifvNro9MC&pg=PR13 Life in a Technocracy: What it Might be Like], p. 12-13</ref>

[[Thorstein Veblen]] is also regarded to be an early father of technocracy,<ref name=utopianism>[https://books.google.com/books?id=n6RabZ8t48gC&pg=PA259 Technological Utopianism in American Culture]</ref> when he called for a ''Soviet of Technicians'' in 1921.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/engineersandpri01veblgoog ''The engineers and the price system ''], by [[Thorstein Veblen]], p. 138</ref>  Other influence upon the formation of ''technocracy'' include [[Edward Bellamy]] and his book [[Looking Backward]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1kvifvNro9MC&pg=PR13 Life in a Technocracy: What it Might be Like], p. 12-13</ref>

===Technocracy Movement===

===Technocracy Movement===

==Critiques==

==Critiques==

===James Burnham===

===James Burnham===

In his seminal work [[James Burnham#The Managerial Revolution|''The Managerial Revolution'']], Burnham lists ''Technocracy'' as one of four managerial ideologies alongside [[Communism]], [[Nazism]], and [[New Deal|New Dealism]].

In his seminal work [[James Burnham#The Managerial Revolution|''The Managerial Revolution'']], Burnham lists ''Technocracy'' as one of four managerial ideologies alongside [[Communism]], [[Nazism]], and [[New Deal]]ism.

===Elected and Unelected===

===Elected and Unelected===

As a political term, ''Technocracy'' tends to be a bit elastic<ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/21538698 Minds like machines -Government by experts sounds tempting, especially in a crisis. It can work. But brief stints have the best chances], [[The Economist]]</ref>, meaning that the definition of both the word and the application(s) have shifted over time.

As a political term, ''Technocracy'' tends to be a bit elastic,<ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/21538698 Minds like machines -Government by experts sounds tempting, especially in a crisis. It can work. But brief stints have the best chances], [[The Economist]]</ref> meaning that the definition of both the word and the application(s) have shifted over time.

====Elected====

====Elected====

===Technocracy and Socialism===

===Technocracy and Socialism===

Daniel Bell, an influential sociologist<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Bell Daniel Bell]</ref>, made a direct comparison between technocracy and early socialist theorists, particularly that of [[Henri de Saint-Simon]]. He wrote that "St. Simon's vision of industrial society, a vision of pure technocracy, was a system of planning and rational order in which society would specify its needs and organize the factors of production to achieve them."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6_56x5tB7gC&pg=PA76|last1=Bell|first1=Daniel|year=2008|title=The Coming Of Post-industrial Society|isbn=978-0465097135}}</ref>  Bell concluded that the "administration of things" is the "hallmark of technocracy".  G. D. H. Cole agrees with Bell, that Saint-Simon "anticipated modern notions of technocracy in his insistence on the master-function of the industrial experts and organizers".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6UgAQAAIAAJ&q=anticipated+modern+notions+of+technocracy+in+his+insistence+on+the&dq=anticipated+modern+notions+of+technocracy+in+his+insistence+on+the&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiWiu_hn6_KAhUM6yYKHTxGDGIQ6AEIKjAD|last1=Cole|first1=George Douglas Howard|year=1962|title=A History of Socialist Thought: Socialist thought, the forerunners, 1789-1850, Volume 1|pages=49}}</ref>

Daniel Bell, an influential sociologist,<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Bell Daniel Bell]</ref> made a direct comparison between technocracy and early socialist theorists, particularly that of [[Henri de Saint-Simon]]. He wrote that "St. Simon's vision of industrial society, a vision of pure technocracy, was a system of planning and rational order in which society would specify its needs and organize the factors of production to achieve them."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6_56x5tB7gC&pg=PA76|last1=Bell|first1=Daniel|year=2008|title=The Coming Of Post-industrial Society|isbn=978-0465097135}}</ref>  Bell concluded that the "administration of things" is the "hallmark of technocracy".  G. D. H. Cole agrees with Bell, that Saint-Simon "anticipated modern notions of technocracy in his insistence on the master-function of the industrial experts and organizers".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6UgAQAAIAAJ&q=anticipated+modern+notions+of+technocracy+in+his+insistence+on+the&dq=anticipated+modern+notions+of+technocracy+in+his+insistence+on+the&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiWiu_hn6_KAhUM6yYKHTxGDGIQ6AEIKjAD|last1=Cole|first1=George Douglas Howard|year=1962|title=A History of Socialist Thought: Socialist thought, the forerunners, 1789-1850, Volume 1|pages=49}}</ref>

 

 

In addition, [[Upton Sinclair]] was very excited<ref>Arthur M. Schlesinger (2003). [http://books.google.com/books?id=UAjls3YykzgC&pg=PA463 The Crisis of the Old Order, 1919-1933] Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 463.</ref> about the coming Technocracy movement and lauded its arrival.  He wrote:

In addition, [[Upton Sinclair]] was very excited<ref>Arthur M. Schlesinger (2003). [http://books.google.com/books?id=UAjls3YykzgC&pg=PA463 The Crisis of the Old Order, 1919-1933] Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 463.</ref> about the coming Technocracy movement and lauded its arrival.  He wrote:

But for unelected bureaucrats of a technocratic nature, meritocracy itself is undermined, and any technocratic merit will be superceded by the quagmire that the citizens are being arbitrarily dictated to.  This has led critics to point out that technocracy is undemocratic.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UR6Q6LugtLoC&pg=PA361 User Behavior and Technology Development: Shaping Sustainable Relations Between Consumers and Technologies], The Technocracy versus Democracy issue</ref>

But for unelected bureaucrats of a technocratic nature, meritocracy itself is undermined, and any technocratic merit will be superceded by the quagmire that the citizens are being arbitrarily dictated to.  This has led critics to point out that technocracy is undemocratic.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UR6Q6LugtLoC&pg=PA361 User Behavior and Technology Development: Shaping Sustainable Relations Between Consumers and Technologies], The Technocracy versus Democracy issue</ref>

==See Also==

==See also==

* [[Central planning]]

* [[Central planning]]

* [[Economic planning]]

* [[Economic planning]]

{{reflist|3}}

{{reflist|3}}

==External Links==

==External links==

* [https://archive.org/details/technocracyworki00smytrich William Henry Smyth, Technocracy Parts I-IV., Working Explosively, A Protest Against Mechanistic Efficiency.  Working Explosively Versus Working Efficiently.] at [[archive.org]]

* [https://archive.org/details/technocracyworki00smytrich William Henry Smyth, Technocracy Parts I-IV., Working Explosively, A Protest Against Mechanistic Efficiency.  Working Explosively Versus Working Efficiently.] at [[archive.org]]

* [https://archive.org/details/TechnocracyStuartChase ''Technocracy: An Interpretation''], by [[Stuart Chase]]

* [https://archive.org/details/TechnocracyStuartChase ''Technocracy: An Interpretation''], by [[Stuart Chase]]