Why some nations are warming to technocracy

Young democracies are hungry for competent govt, even if they didn't elect it

It’s an interesting paradox that ordinary people asked to choose the best form of government don’t necessarily choose democracy — the only form structured around how they feel about such questions. A 38-country survey published by Pew Research Center on Monday shows most people prefer a technocracy, with a minority favouring a type of military or civilian authoritarianism.

Pew asked 41,953 people earlier this year to judge if five forms of government — representative democracy, direct democracy, or rule by either experts, a strong leader or the military — would, in their opinion, be good for their country. More than three-quarters