technocracy

technocracy, government by technicians who are guided solely by the imperatives of their technology. The concept developed in the United States early in the 20th century as an expression of the Progressive movement and became a subject of considerable public interest in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The origins of the technocracy movement may be traced to Frederick W. Taylor’s introduction of the concept of scientific management. Writers such as Henry L. Gannt, Thorstein...