¶5 If the competence of ‘specialists’ is often very illusory, and in any case limited to a very narrow domain, the belief in this competence is nevertheless a fact;1 and one may ask how it happens that this belief no longer plays any rôle when it comes to the career of politicians, where the most complete incompetence is rarely an obstacle.2 Yet, if one reflects on it, one realises easily that there is nothing to be surprised at, and that this is in short only a very natural result of the ‘democratic’ conception,3 by virtue of which power comes from below and rests essentially on the majority, which has necessarily as its corollary the exclusion of all true competence, because competence is always a superiority at least relative and can only be the apanage of a minority.4
←
→

Summary

Guénon notes that although the competence of ‘specialists’ is often illusory and limited to a narrow field, belief in that competence nonetheless exists. He then observes that this belief plays no role in the careers of politicians, where even complete incompetence rarely presents an obstacle. Upon reflection, he argues that this is not surprising but a natural consequence of the democratic conception, by which power comes from below and rests on the majority. This necessarily excludes true competence, since competence is always at least a relative superiority and can only belong to a minority.

General notes

  1. croyance à cette compétence — Rendered as ‘belief in this competence’. Guénon here distinguishes the objective reality of competence (which, for a specialist, remains illusory or very limited) from the collective belief in this competence. The social fact is the belief, not the reality. This belief is maintained by the prestige of the title or diploma. ↩︎
  2. incompétence la plus complète — Rendered as ‘the most complete incompetence’. Guénon opposes the supposed competence of technical specialists (engineers, scientists, experts) to the notorious incompetence of politicians. This incompetence is not an accident but a structural consequence of the democratic system, which privileges popularity over qualification. ↩︎
  3. conception « démocratique » — Rendered as ‘“democratic” conception’. The quotation marks indicate that Guénon does not recognise democracy as a legitimate political régime in the traditional sense. It is a conception whose presuppositions he will deconstruct: the ‘from below’ origin of power (popular sovereignty) and the majority principle. ↩︎
  4. apanage d’une minorité — Rendered as ‘apanage of a minority’. Guénon affirms a universal traditional principle: real competence (in the intellectual, spiritual, technical or artisanal order) is always the attribute of a restricted élite, not of the majority. The majority law, by reversing this relationship, institutes the reign of incompetence. ↩︎