Rose-Ackerman, Susan --- "Citizens and technocrats: an essay on trust, public participation, and government legitimacy" [2017] ELECD 1096; in Rose-Ackerman, Susan; Lindseth, L. Peter; Emerson, Blake (eds), "Comparative Administrative Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 251

Book Title: Comparative Administrative Law

Editor(s): Rose-Ackerman, Susan; Lindseth, L. Peter; Emerson, Blake

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784718657

Section: Chapter 15

Section Title: Citizens and technocrats: an essay on trust, public participation, and government legitimacy

Author(s): Rose-Ackerman, Susan

Number of pages: 17

Abstract/Description:

Administrative government complicates the question of democratic legitimacy by moving policymaking outside both the electoral process and the legislative chamber. Given the practical requirement of delegating policymaking and implementation to the executive in a modern regulatory-welfare state, how can democratic values be preserved when decisions require expertise and officials must make decisions quickly in a rapidly changing environment? This chapter concentrates on the connections between expertise and public participation in the production of public policy. It unpacks the concept of public participation and the way it can affect policymaking and implementation choices, for good or for ill. It then concentrates on a specific case, the German Energiewende that aims to increase the generation of electric power from renewables at the same time as it phases out nuclear power. The German case demonstrates that public involvement is not per se desirable but must be organized to complement expertise and enhance democratic accountability. The chapter links to Rose-Ackerman’s broader research agenda in comparative administrative law.