Political leaders need technical literacy to arbitrate among experts

Evidence

Principals can place contractual limitations on agent performance; for example, they can ask auto mechanics to return the parts they replaced or require stockbrokers to consult with them before they trade their portfolio. But many principals hire a mechanic because they have not the faintest idea whether the parts are in working order and a stockbroker because they do not know when it is best to buy, sell, or hold on to their securities. It is precisely because principals are incapable of contractual specification that many of them enter agency relationships in the first place. — Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Impersonal Trust, 48 (#complicates, via linked claim)

In March 1986, a nine-page article about the Chernobyl nuclear installation appeared in the English-language edition of Soviet Life, under the heading of Total Safety’. Only a month later, over the weekend of the 26–27 April, the world’s worst nuclear accident—thus far—occurred at the plant. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 13 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Confidence in expert systems can be catastrophically misplaced — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 13; People delegate precisely because they lack the expertise to specify the task. — Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Impersonal Trust, 48; Activists pursue technical expertise to win credibility in public debate — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1421 (+1 more)

Related

• People delegate precisely because they lack the expertise to specify the task. (similarity 0.83)
• Political leaders must gain enough technical culture to judge expert advice (similarity 0.79)
• Expert knowledge use in politics is a democratic decision (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• People delegate precisely because they lack the expertise to specify the task. #complicates (0.72) — Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Impersonal Trust, 48
• Confidence in expert systems can be catastrophically misplaced #complicates (0.70) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 13