Experts and Democratic Legitimacy challenges the technocratic reading of expert bodies, such as central banks, advisory committees and regulatory agencies. Expert contributors ask in what way expert bodies are subject to some of the key pressures in contemporary governance, such as democratisation, politicisation and expertisation. Based on empirical studies, the book traces the multiple social ties of expert bodies and refines the common perception of expert bodies as ‘de-politicised’ institutions that are detached from political interference and societal input. It further theorises the tension and reconcilability between reliable, independent expert knowledge on the one hand and the need for accountability and legitimacy in modern policy-making on the other hand. Refining the detached, de-politicised image of non-majoritarian institutions, Experts and Democratic Legitimacy will be of great interest to scholars of European studies, political and social theory, modern governance and policy-making. This book was originally published as a special issue of European Politics and Society.

Based on in-depth studies of the relationship between expertise and democracy in Europe, this book presents a new approach to how the un-elected can be made safe for democracy. It addresses the challenge of reconciling modern governments’ need for knowledge with the demand for democratic legitimacy. Knowledge-based decision-making is indispensable to modern democracies. This book establishes a public reason model of legitimacy and clarifies the conditions under which unelected bodies can be deemed legitimate as they are called upon to handle pandemics, financial crises, climate change and migration flows. Expert bodies are seeking neither re-election nor popularity, they can speak truth to power as well as to the citizenry at large. They are unelected, yet they wield power. How could they possibly be legitimate? This book is of key interest to scholars and students of democracy, governance, and more broadly to political and administrative science as well as the Science Technology Studies (STS).

This book re-imagines expert authority for an age of critical citizens, and shows how expertise can contribute in a deliberative system.

‘Scientific advice to politics’, the ‘nature of expertise’, and the ‘relation between experts, policy makers, and the public’ are variations of a topic that currently attracts the attention of social scientists, philosophers of science as well as practitioners in the public sphere and the media. This renewed interest in a persistent theme is initiated by the call for a democratization of expertise that has become the order of the day in the legitimation of research funding. The new significance of ‘participation’ and ‘accountability’ has motivated scholars to take a new look at the science – politics interface and to probe questions such as "What is new in the arrangement of scientific expertise and political decision-making?", "How can reliable knowledge be made useful for politics and society at large, and how can epistemically and ethically sound decisions be achieved without losing democratic legitimacy?", "How can the objective of democratization of expertise be achieved without compromising the quality and reliability of knowledge?" Scientific knowledge and the ‘experts’ that represent it no longer command the unquestioned authority and public trust that was once bestowed upon them, and yet, policy makers are more dependent on them than ever before. This collection of essays explores the relations between science and politics with the instruments of the social studies of science, thereby providing new insights into their re-alignment under a new régime of governance.

Barnard argues that Western democracy, if it is to continue to exist as a legitimate political system, must maintain the integrity of its application of performative principles. Consequently, if both social and political democracy are legitimate goals, limitations designed to curb excessive political power may also be applicable in containing excessive economic power. Barnard stresses that whatever steps are taken to augment civic reciprocity, the observance and self-imposition of publicly recognized standards is vital. Democratic Legitimacy will appeal to political scientists and philosophers, as well as specialists in democratic theory.

"Krick's book provides the reader with a rare combination of an intelligent probe into the fundamental problem of the theory of democracy - how to reconcile democratic participation and reliable expertise - and meticulous empirical case studies of three exemplary exercises in public participation. The result is an unusually sophisticated analysis which does not shy away from practical conclusions." -Peter Weingart, University of Bielefeld "Making public policy that combines expert advice and public input is no easy task. Eva Krick's accessible and judicious book is full of insights on why it is so difficult, and how complex democratic societies can do better. Drawing on original empirical research, Krick develops nuanced lessons for the design of participatory expert advisory processes." -Mark B. Brown, California State University, Sacramento "Krick's investigations illuminate the much-underestimated importance of hybrid policy advice bodies for democratic governance. Her grounded approach to institutional design is genuinely original, and truly advances our understanding of how experts, citizens and stakeholders (should) interact." -Cathrine Holst, University of Oslo "In an era of increasing academic specialization, Krick makes a bold and successful effort to integrate issues usually held apart; empirical studies of German and Norwegian cases, theory-development, normative assessment and constructive design proposals. On the basis of a wide theoretical perspective, important aspects of the conventional wisdom and key conceptualizations are challenged, supplemented and refined." -Johan P. Olsen, University of Oslo This book deals with the role of expertise and public participation in modern governance. It explores the relationship, tensions and compatibility of these increasingly important and partly conflicting sources of legitimacy and authority. By zooming in on the coordinated procedures of environmental policy-making in European consensus systems and by interconnecting theories of democracy, knowledge and science, organisation and decision-making, the author develops institutional solutions to the tensions between epistemic and democratic demands on public policy-making. Eva Krick is Researcher at the University of Oslo's ARENA Centre for European Studies, focusing on questions of collective decision-making, democratic legitimacy and the role of knowledge in policy-making.

This book offers a systematic treatment of democratic legitimacy, interpreted as a distinct normative concept. It defends the view that democratic legitimacy requires that decisions are made in a process that is politically and epistemically fair.