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Short abstract

This paper examines how science-for-policy professionals construct and negotiate boundaries between technocracy, politics, democracy, and bureaucracy. Using a joke as empirical entry point, it explores the affective and imaginative dimensions of technocracy in everyday ministerial practice.

Long abstract

This study originates from an early fieldwork observation. During a discussion among science-for-policy professionals in Dutch ministries about declining trust in science and its risks for politics and administration, a participant jokingly suggested “restarting the cabinet formation and putting up a bunch of technocrats,” prompting laughter.

I am interested in what this joke and the laughter signify. Jokes can function as boundary markers, defining community borders and indicating what is considered ‘edgy’, that is, where ridicule ends and seriousness begins (Traweek, 2024). The joke may reveal how science-for-policy actors understand the power of expertise in bureaucratic settings. The joke briefly rendered technocracy imaginable while simultaneously clarifying its limits: as a joke, the idea becomes ridiculous and unserious.

In this paper, the joke serves as an empirical entry point to examine these imaginative dynamics of power and constraint in the everyday practices of science-for-policy professionals. In-depth interviews conducted in 2026 invite participants to interpret the joke and reflect more broadly on the role of science in government and democratic legitimacy.

The broader aim is to investigate how ministerial bureaucrats engaged in enhancing knowledge use view their role boundaries in a system where science, bureaucracy, and democracy are intertwined, contributing to qualitative research on technocracy. It specifically explores the ‘affective appeal’ of technocracy. Humor unsettles the opposition between ‘cold’ rationality and affect usually associated with technocracy. Opening up this affective dimension also allows attention to other underexamined dimensions of technocracy, such as imagination, gender, and religion.

Keywords: technocracy; affection; science-democracy-bureaucracy interface