Liberal Democracy and the Dangers of Meritocratic Depoliticisation

In this chapter Smilova argue that the central tension underlying democracy’s crisis is between equality, the fundamental value and a necessary presupposition of democracy, on the one hand, and the growing inequalities and asymmetries of power under representative government, on the other. Yet my focus is not on the tension between democracy and capitalism, often presented as a primary source of the crisis of representative democracy. Rather, Smilova identify what she believe is an even more fundamental tension. It is between the meritocratic ideal for selecting ruling elites, and for attributing value and prestige in Western liberal democracies, on the one hand, and the democratic requirement for equality – for equal participation in the democratic process, on the other. This fundamental tension - which Smilova call the meritocracy problem for liberal democracy - helps turn representative democracy into a regime, where unelected, democratically unaccountable technocratic experts uphold individual and minority rights at the expense of the popular will.