<b>Named one of "The Best Books of 2025" by the <i>New Yorker.</i></b><br /><br />"<i>The Weaponization of Expertise</i> does not possess (or attempt) the grandeur of <i>The Constitution of Knowledge</i>. Rauch sets out to draft a constitution, whereas Russell and Patterson are merely prosecuting a case. But as a diagnosis of our political predicament, the latter offers the stronger account. <i>CoK</i> is too dismissive of populist discontent to help us make sense of it, and its noble abstractions float too far above the rough-and-tumble of our actual cultural conflicts. Russell and Hale’s seemingly simple story (in brief: elites overreach, populists call them out, elites double down) ultimately described these conflicts in a more realistic and grounded manner." <br /><b><i>—Fusion</i></b>
Epigraphs
Table of Contents
Preface: “Just Follow the Science”
Chapter 1. Expertise Corrupted
PART I. AN OVERPLAYED HAND: The Age of Mindless Expertise
Chapter 2. Elites and Expert Culture
Chapter 3. The Misuse of Expertise
Chapter 4. Explaining the Abuse of Expertise
PART II. CALLING THEIR BLUFF: Populists Against Experts
Chapter 5. Misunderstanding Populism
Chapter 6. Populist Habits of Mind
Chapter 7. Expertise in Policy
PART III. DOUBLING DOWN: Weaponizing the Charge of Misinformation
Chapter 8. Much Ado about Misinformation
Chapter 9. Merchants of Overconfidence
Chapter 10. The Closing of the Elite Mind
Conclusion. Giving Political Judgment a Chance
Acknowledgments
Works Cited