technocrat
noun
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In 1919 W. H. Smyth coined the term technocracy to mean basically "management of society by technical experts". Technocracy grew into a movement during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when politicians and financial institutions were being blamed for the economic disaster, and fans of technocracy claimed that letting technical experts manage the country would be a great improvement. (They also suggested that dollars could be replaced by "energy certificates" representing energy units called ergs.) Today technocrat and technocratic are still popular words for experts with a highly rational and scientific approach to public policy issues. But these experts aren't always the best politicians, and when a terrific technological solution to a problem is opposed by a powerful group or industry, lawmakers find it easier to just ignore it.
Examples of technocrat in a Sentence
Sara Miller Llana, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2025
Canada’s ruling Liberal party picked Mark Carney — a former central bank governor known as a competent technocrat — as its new leader.
—Josh Fellman, Quartz, 9 Mar. 2025
If Japan is any example, the collaboration between technocrats and right-wing politicians is unlikely to last forever.
—Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2025
Between the lines: The details of any plan to release the GSEs from government control get fiendishly complicated very quickly, as technocrats argue over such issues as liquidation preferences, credit risk transfer instruments, and corporate credit ratings.
—Felix Salmon, Axios, 6 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Technocrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technocrat. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
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