Liberal Democracy 3.0: Civil Society in an Age of Experts

What are the political implications of ‘expert’ knowledge and especially scientific knowledge for liberal democracy? If knowledge is not evenly distributed upon what basis can the philosophy of equal rights be sustained? The New Politics of Knowledge points to the crisis in knowledge in liberal democracies. This crisis, simply put, is that most citizens cannot understand, much less judge, the claims scientists make. The central argument of the book is that in a ‘knowledge society’ in which specialized knowledge is increasingly important to politics, more has to be delegated because democratic discussion can’t handle it. This limitation in the scope of liberal democracy threatens its fundamental character.