What Expertise Does Politics Need in Times of Crisis? Notes on the Current Situation in Austria

Authors

  • Alexander Bogner Institut für Technikfolgen-Abschätzung der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15203/ozp.4015.vol51iss1

Keywords:

Policy advice, expertise, crisis, moralization, COVID-19

Abstract

In the Coronavirus crisis, a slogan became prominent that we know from the climate debate: Follow the science! What is wrong with this slogan and how policy advice should be organized in the crisis is discussed in this text. It is argued that the demands on expertise depend on the type of crisis: While expertocracy is legitimate in acute crisis situations, strong interdisciplinarity is needed in chronic crises. The associated fear of polyphony and disunity in science is wrong. Only expert dissent – albeit institutionally coordinated and well justified – makes it clear what is at stake and what room for maneuver there is for policymakers to make decisions.

Author Biography

  • Alexander Bogner, Institut für Technikfolgen-Abschätzung der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW)
    Alexander Bogner is a sociologist at the Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and a lecturer at the University of Vienna. From 2017 to 2019 he held a professorship in Sociology at the University of Innsbruck. He has been President of the Austrian Sociological Association since 2019. Recent book: „Die Epistemisierung des Politischen. Wie die Macht des Wissens die Demokratie gefährdet“ (Reclam).

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Published

2022-03-31

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