Depoliticisation and Governance in Democratic Systems
Summary
Depoliticisation in democratic systems refers to the process by which issues traditionally subject to political contestation are transferred from elected bodies and public debate into more technical, administrative or expert-driven forums. This trend has been driven by growing policy complexity, public scepticism towards partisan politics and the appeal of seemingly neutral, evidence-based decision-making. Governments delegate responsibilities to independent agencies, supranational bodies or public–private partnerships in order to insulate technical choices from electoral pressure and short-term political calculation. While such institutional designs can enhance efficiency, they also raise questions of accountability, legitimacy and responsiveness. Critics argue that rendering contentious matters as technical problems risks eroding democratic ownership and constraining citizen engagement. The literature explores how depoliticisation interacts with phenomena such as regulatory governance, central bank independence, global health institutions and climate administration, highlighting both stabilising effects on policy‐making and unintended democratic backlashes when publics perceive a deficit of control over major social challenges.
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Depoliticisation and Governance in Democratic Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in depoliticisation and governance in democratic systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Depoliticisation: The institutional and discursive process by which decisions are moved away from democratic debate into technical or expert domains.
Politicisation: The mobilisation of issues into public contestation, where values, interests and power relations are openly debated.
Juridification: The increasing reliance on legal norms, procedures and judiciary-style mechanisms to resolve policy issues, reducing overt political bargaining.
References
- The WHO Foundation in global health governance: Depoliticizing corporate philanthropy. Social Science & Medicine (2023).
- The (Ontological) Politics in Depoliticisation Debates: Three Lenses on the Decline of the Political. Political Studies Review (2017).
- ‘Mr Rules’: Keir Starmer and the juridification of politics. British Politics (2024).
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