When Everyone Is an Expert

In an era of instant feedback and crowdsourcing, the government misses out when it relies solely on authorized voices.


In a clear illustration of why “the perfect is the enemy of the good,” as the old saying goes, professional expertise often seems to interfere with more obvious, informal, and efficient solutions to public problems. At least, that’s the case that Beth Simone Noveck makes in Smart Citizens, Smarter State. Noveck believes that new technologies have great potential to improve governance, but only if governments can draw from the “good” wisdom of informed crowds and not rely exclusively on the “perfect” information of credentialed experts. 

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