Public Policy
Concerns about the politicization of science and the regulatory process are not new. By pushing the boundaries of human knowledge, science can challenge prevailing norms and socio-economic relationships. The pursuit of fact can be difficult, but the benefits scientific advances have brought to human society are unquestioned.
Ted Koppel succinctly summarized the tensions that can be created when science abuts politics. His admonition applies as well today as it did then:
"There is some irony in the fact that Vice President Gore, one of the most scientifically literate men to sit in the White House in this century, that he is resorting to political means to achieve what should ultimately be resolved on a purely scientific basis ? The issues of global warming and ozone depletion are undeniably important. The future of mankind may depend on how this generation deals with them. But the issues have to be debated and settled on scientific grounds, not politics. There is nothing new about major institutions seeking to influence science to their own ends. The church did it, ruling families have done it, the communists did it, and so have others, in the name of anti-communism. But it has always been a corrupting influence, and it always will be. The measure of good science is neither the politics of the scientist nor the people with whom the scientist associates. It is the immersion of hypotheses into the acid of truth. That's the hard way to do it, but it's the only way that works." (Ted Koppel, "Is Environmental Science for Sale?" ABC News Nightline Transcript, February 24, 1994).
Over the years, the Marshall Institute has sponsored activities that discuss the intersection of science and public policy generally as well as in the context of our focused programs.
|
|
Politicizing Science: The Alchemy of Policymaking
edited by Michael Gough
In Politicizing Science: The Alchemy of Policymaking, eleven leading scientists describe the politicization-through misapplication or overemphasis of results that favor a political decision or through outright manipulation-of scientific findings and deliberations to advance policy agendas.
|
|
|
