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For the people who think I only started to wrestle with this "experts in a democracy" problem just a few years ago, this is from a book review I wrote thirty years ago - and it uses a line that appeared decades later in the book. /1
I was brutal on the authors of a book on SDI because they basically said that things like strategic defenses were just too important to be left to presidents like Reagan, and that engineers should get the final word. That made me bristle, and still does. /2
That's why "Death of Expertise" had a chapter explaining the difference between experts and policymakers - basically arguing that people in a democracy have the right to insist on dumb policies - even if I wish they wouldn't. That's still how I feel. /3
I even use the word "elitist" in that book review, because I don't think defense engineers should make defense policy. To me, it's a cross-expertise violation. "This system probably won't work" is an engineering question. "Should we keep working on it" is a political question. /4
Anyway, I came across the piece while I was rummaging in my computer looking for another article. But this "when do we listen to experts" thing has been on my mind for just about all of my career, and that's one of the receipts. /5x
