Technocracy

Technocracy is a particular political group that advocates far-reaching physical, social and administrative reforms based on scientific analyses of the human environment.

The general term technocracy originated in published critiques of the advocacy group, and now generally refers to an elite who governs through use of technology/technological prowess. The term generally refers to a situation in which the elite is selected through bureaucratic processes on the basis of specialized knowledge rather than through democratic or personal processes. The term may be either positive or negative.

The general term has been applied to a number of governments, most notably Singapore, Chile under Augusto Pinochet and the Chicago boys and the current government of the People's Republic of China.

See also:

• meritocracy
• forms of government

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Technocracy can also refer to a system of governance in which laws are enforced by designing the system such that it is impossible to break them. For instance, to prevent people from riding the trolley without paying, you could simply design the trolley cars so that no one can hop on without first inserting payment into a slot which causes the door to open. The same idea can be applied on much larger scales, with automated surveillance by semi-intelligent systems that automatically control or limit the actions of individuals to prevent illegal activity.