On 2012-02-24, at 7:55 AM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Marv: " unelected government of technocrats would be less subject to
> political, ie. democratic, pressure from below"
>
> [WS:] To be honest, I've seen both. I lived in a country ruled by an
> unelected executive committee and one ruled by the so-called elected
> 'representatives' . I see no significant difference between the two
> regarding responsiveness to "pressures from below" - both respond
> only if sufficiently threatened.
Of course - all governments respond equally if threatened. But, that apart, the EU powers are not wrong to assume that Monti is unconstrained by the normal political pressure exercised through the electoral system on political parties, including right-wing ones like Berlusconi's. That's why the latter was replaced by Merkozy. You cited Monti favourably in conjunction with your Fabian admiration of technocracy as a superior form of government to democracy, even of the corrupted "bourgeois" kind, which was what prompted my reply.