Institutionalization of the expert community: public councils under the authorities

The article examines the problems of institutionalization of the expert community on the example of the Public Council at the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Moscow. The material contains some results of an expert poll of the members of the Council, in particular, an assessment of the importance of the components of expert competence, and significant differences in views on the question of the authorities of experts. The article confirms the existence of a discord between the importance of expert advice on socially significant issues and a narrow range of expert competency. Within this framework, the necessity of performativity of scientific and expert knowledge in relation to the needs of social workers is justified. Thus, prospects for a new channel of interaction between society and the authorities are outlined.