The technocratic side of populist attitudes: evidence from the Spanish case

Populism and technocracy represent a challenge to pluralist party democracies. The first promotesthe rule by “the people”, while the second demands the rule by independent experts. The literatureon populism and technocracy as challenges to party democracy is burgeoning. Less is known aboutcitizens’ attitudes towards the ideas that underpin both populism and technocracy. We explorethese opinions in a survey conducted in Spain using a comprehensive battery of items tapping ontechnocracy and populism. We find that populist attitudes correlate with two dimensions oftechnocracy: anti-politics and pro-expertise sentiments. A latent-class analysis shows that thelargest sample group simultaneously endorses rule by the people and the enrolment of experts inpolitical decision-making. We name this group technopopulists. Our paper challenges extant viewsof populism and technocracy as separate alternatives and spurs works on voter demand for theinvolvement of experts in politics.