In The New Authoritarianism, University of Sydney academic Salvatore Babones makes the telling observation that while elected politicians might believe they are in command it’s actually the ‘bureaucracies and independent agencies’ that determine policy and decide how government mandates are implemented. Babones also makes the point that these unelected policy brokers and so-called experts are very effective at ensuring their leftist agenda dominates public debate regardless of what political parties might promise during election campaigns.