That, being Errol Morris' op-ed in the Strib/Times. This, being Timothy Burke in a thoughtful reply.
The experts have always been there; I've argued elsewhere (PDF) that the Webbs in England, and people like Richard Ely in the U.S. were early examples of, what Burke calls, "We Know Best" politics.
Not all educated professionals are in the Democratic party (or Labour parties elsewhere) because they have busybody politics. Professionals are increasingly employees, and a standard class-based story of people voting along economic lines still holds. If you remember that income is not the only dimension of economic status.
Social democratic governments can guard against professional capture of public services by retaining a voice for public input (elected boards etc) at the local level. This, of course, has its own problems. If the people who stand for Congress are not representative the people who stand for the local health board (or whatever, soil and water board) are even less representative.
Moreover, local input can mean that there is more divergence between conditions in different parts of the country than desired.
If you really want to see a good example of these political tensions wax and wane over time look at 'socialized' health care systems.
Posted by robe0419 at January 21, 2005 2:35 PM