Lisa Herzog's latest book, Citizen Knowledge: Markets, Experts, and the Infrastructure of Democracy, explores the relationship between democracy and knowledge in capitalist societies. She examines challenges such as fake news, distrust of experts, and the risks of technocracy. Herzog emphasizes the importance of supporting informed citizenship and finding a balance between market-driven knowledge and democratic decision-making. Photo via University of Gronigen

Lisa Herzog works at the intersection of political philosophy and economic thought. Her research focuses on topics such as workplace democracy, professional ethics, the role of knowledge in democracies, and the philosophical dimensions of markets.

She wrote this article about university governance, but it serves as an excellent argument for more democratic, inclusive, and locally responsive governance models in any organization.

"There are different kinds of efficiency that can inform governance issues... There is the efficiency of 'economies of scales' that pushes for processes to be done on large scale. But there is also what might be called the efficiency of 'economies of trust': short lines and trustful collaboration. The former pushes towards larger structures, the latter towards small, close-knit communities in which people know each other well."

ARTICLE:Small Is Beautiful – and Other Thoughts About University Governance