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Trym Nohr Fjørtoft

@trymnf.com

169 followers 341 following 20 posts

associate professor of political science, Oslo Metropolitan University. trymnf.com

Trym Nohr Fjørtoft @trymnf.com · 03/09/2026

Elena (@elenaescalanteb.bsky.social) and I have tried our hands at science and technology studies! In @sciasculture.bsky.social, we find that most media coverage treats antitrust regulation as a depoliticized, technical exercise. We think this fails against the emerging tech oligarchy.

Softening the oligarchy: the normalization of Big Tech power

Drive along the north shore of Long Island in New York, and you will see the spoils of America’s previous Gilded Age. Vast estates of hundreds or thousands of acres, with turreted castles and residences in the style of eighteenth-century English manor houses, the more modest houses containing thirty-two rooms and the roomier estates more than twice as many – a stark contrast to the crowded New York City nearby. In the words of Robert Caro,

The huddled masses of New York City had a (…) powerful enemy. It was wealth – vast, entrenched, impregnable wealth – and the power that went with it. For it was to Long Island that the robber barons of America had retired to enjoy their plunder. (Caro, Citation1975, p. 148)
The so-called robber barons – the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and their likes – had become rich on oil and railways and steel, in many cases obtaining monopolies in their sectors and gaining enormous political and economic power.

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Trym Nohr Fjørtoft @trymnf.com · 19/05/2026

My paper "Delegation without a coherent nation: non-majoritarianism in EU and US single market governance" is now out in @compeurpol.bsky.social. I try to challenge the common idea that delegation requires embedding in a "single democratic people" to be legitimate. ⇢ doi.org/10.1057/s412...

Delegation without a coherent nation: non-majoritarianism in EU and US single market governance

Trym N Fjørtoft

Abstract: Non-majoritarian institutions like independent agencies and central banks play a significant role in market governance in the EU, the U.S., and everywhere. For many scholars, however, delegation to non-majoritarian institutions requires the embedding in a single, coherent democratic people in order to be legitimate. This view underlies many of the strongest normative critiques of the EU, where the substantial powers of non-majoritarian institutions like the Commisison, the European Central Bank, and many decentralized agencies enjoy no such justification. I argue that this common normative account relies on an unsustainable notion of cultural and political coherence as a prerequisite for legitimacy. In its place, I defend a theory of legitimacy which builds on robust claims to the common good, expertise, and value inputs—all authorized and controlled by thinner democratic procedures. Using the example of single-market governance in the EU and the U.S., I show that legitimacy assessments which presuppose strong cultural and political coherence overstate the differences between the two polities.

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Trym Nohr Fjørtoft @trymnf.com · 17/02/2026

New paper forthcoming in Comparative European Politics! I argue that the legitimacy of non-majoritarian institutions doesn't hang on their embedding in a coherent democratic people. Preprint here, typeset version coming soon. → www.trymnf.com/files/papers...

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Trym Nohr Fjørtoft @trymnf.com · 11/02/2026

John Erik Fossum og jeg har meninger om demokratiets stilling i Europa. I Internasjonal Politikk nå – sammen med andre gode bidrag fra @unioslo-arena.bsky.social og @nupinytt.bsky.social. → doi.org/10.23865/int...

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Trym Nohr Fjørtoft @trymnf.com · 27/01/2026

My Technical Legitimacy piece is now out in @polstudies.bsky.social! Pretty happy with this one, where I try to sort out the common claim that neutrality and expertise may be sources of legitimacy for unelected bodies. ➡ doi.org/10.1177/0032...

Abstract:
In studies of non-majoritarian institutions, there is a widespread idea that political neutrality, epistemic authority, and technical expertise are sources of legitimacy. Empirical studies tend to find that such appeals are effective sources of legitimacy, but theorists are overwhelmingly skeptical of their normative appeal. This article’s conceptual ambition is to unify the disparate debates under the term technical legitimacy. The article’s theoretical ambition is to improve on the normative debate on technical legitimacy. Existing defenses fail to robustly satisfy the reasons that ground delegation to non-majoritarian institutions. I propose conditions for accepting technical legitimacy that are reasonably robust against counterfactuals. Technical legitimacy must meet three criteria. Institutions must promote a functionally specified common good; build on sound and undistorted expertise; and, perhaps counterintuitively, contain appropriate venues for value input.

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Trym Nohr Fjørtoft @trymnf.com · 15/12/2025

My paper "Technical Legitimacy" has just been accepted for publication in @polstudies.bsky.social. A preprint available here for those who just can't wait for the typeset version: www.trymnf.com/files/papers...

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