Science and Technology Advice for Congress

Science and Technology Advice for Congress PDF Author: M. Granger Morgan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136526765
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
The elimination of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in 1995 came during a storm of budget cutting and partisan conflict. Operationally, it left Congress without an institutional arrangement to bring expert scientific and technological advice into the process of legislative decisionmaking. This deficiency has become increasingly critical, as more and more of the decisions faced by Congress and society require judgments based on highly specialized technical information. Offering perspectives from scholars and scientists with diverse academic backgrounds and extensive experience within the policy process, Science and Technology Advice for Congress breaks from the politics of the OTA and its contentious aftermath. Granger Morgan and Jon Peha begin with an overview of the use of technical information in framing policy issues, crafting legislation, and the overall process of governing. They note how, as nonexperts, legislators must make decisions in the face of scientific uncertainty and competing scientific claims from stakeholders. The contributors continue with a discussion of why OTA was created. They draw lessons from OTA's demise, and compare the use of science and technological information in Europe with the United States. The second part of the book responds to requests from congressional leaders for practical solutions. Among the options discussed are expanded functions within existing agencies such as the General Accounting or Congressional Budget Offices; an independent, NGO- administrated analysis group; and a dedicated successor to OTA within Congress. The models emphasize flexibility--and the need to make political feasibility a core component of design.

Science and Technology Advice for Congress

Science and Technology Advice for Congress PDF Author: M. Granger Morgan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136526765
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
The elimination of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in 1995 came during a storm of budget cutting and partisan conflict. Operationally, it left Congress without an institutional arrangement to bring expert scientific and technological advice into the process of legislative decisionmaking. This deficiency has become increasingly critical, as more and more of the decisions faced by Congress and society require judgments based on highly specialized technical information. Offering perspectives from scholars and scientists with diverse academic backgrounds and extensive experience within the policy process, Science and Technology Advice for Congress breaks from the politics of the OTA and its contentious aftermath. Granger Morgan and Jon Peha begin with an overview of the use of technical information in framing policy issues, crafting legislation, and the overall process of governing. They note how, as nonexperts, legislators must make decisions in the face of scientific uncertainty and competing scientific claims from stakeholders. The contributors continue with a discussion of why OTA was created. They draw lessons from OTA's demise, and compare the use of science and technological information in Europe with the United States. The second part of the book responds to requests from congressional leaders for practical solutions. Among the options discussed are expanded functions within existing agencies such as the General Accounting or Congressional Budget Offices; an independent, NGO- administrated analysis group; and a dedicated successor to OTA within Congress. The models emphasize flexibility--and the need to make political feasibility a core component of design.

Science and Technology Advice

Science and Technology Advice PDF Author: William T. Golden
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351491911
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description
This volume aims to attract attention to the necessity for quality advice on science and technology issues to the president of the United States, to the Congress, and to the judiciary. It emphasizes reconsideration and improvement of existing organizations and mechanisms, mindful of the need to adapt to changing circumstances. Golden has gathered facts and opinions useful to a wide range of people: government officials and staffs in all three branches; journalists; scholars and students of political science, science policy, and the history of science policy; members of the industrial and financial communities; and the concerned citizenry. The eighty-five prominent experts include both of President Reagan's science advisors, President Gerald R. Ford, congressional leaders, and distinguished members of the judiciary.

Worldwide Science and Technology Advice

Worldwide Science and Technology Advice PDF Author: William T. Golden
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 100094753X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
First published in 1990. The contributors discuss the organizations for provision of science and technology advice to the highest levels of governments of some 35 countries, including major countries of the world and a selection of important smaller countries. Inclusion of some communist and developing countries adds piquancy. The papers comment on functioning of those organizations as well as describe their formal structure. Each author was asked to describe the science and technology advising organizations for the highest level of his or her country's government and comment on its effectiveness and how it influences policy formulation and action.

Science and Technology Advice for Congress

Science and Technology Advice for Congress PDF Author: Millett Granger Morgan
Publisher: Resources for the Future
ISBN: 9781891853746
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Table of contents

State Science and Technology Policy Advice

State Science and Technology Policy Advice PDF Author: National Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309185874
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
The federal government plays the predominant role in supporting research and development (R&D) and in establishing public policies that affect science and technology (S&T) in the United States. However, the federal government is no longer the sole focus of R&D funding and S&T policy making. State and local policy makers are unquestionably making more and more decisions that affect all of us on a daily basis. With this shift, states have also assumed an increasing responsibility for developing, formalizing, and institutionalizing policies and programs that support R&D and enable S&T evidence and expertise to be incorporated into policy making. These issues were explored during a first-of-its-kind National Convocation organized by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine in collaboration with the National Association of Academies of Science and the California Council on Science and Technology. Scientists, engineers, state policy makers, experts from state regulatory agencies, representatives from foundations, and experts in scientific communication from 20 states and the District of Columbia participated in this event. This report highlights the major themes from the Convocation that emerged from the presentations and from the rich discussions that occurred in both plenary and breakout sessions.

Toward More Effective Science and Technology Advice for Congress

Toward More Effective Science and Technology Advice for Congress PDF Author: Peter D. Blair
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781680838022
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Toward More Effective Science and Technology Advice for Congress traces the historical roots of science and technology advice for Congress and chronicles the creation and evolution of the four organizations that provided this advice over the past half century -- (1) the National Research Council, (2) the Congressional Research Service, (3) the former Office of Technology Assessment, and (4) the Government Accountability Office. Key characteristics for providing effective S&T advice for Congress are defined and then used to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of these organizations today and to identify prospective organizational improvements in each to meet today's needs.

The Politics of Scientific Advice

The Politics of Scientific Advice PDF Author: Justus Lentsch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139502840
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
Controversies over issues such as genetically engineered food, foot-and-mouth disease and the failure of risk models in the global financial crisis have raised concerns about the quality of expert scientific advice. The legitimacy of experts, and of the political decision-makers and policy-makers whom they advise, essentially depends on the quality of the advice. But what does quality mean in this context, and how can it be achieved? This volume argues that the quality of scientific advice can be ensured by an appropriate institutional design of advisory organisations. Using examples from a wide range of international case studies, including think tanks, governmental research institutes, agencies and academies, the authors provide a systematic guide to the major problems and pitfalls encountered in scientific advice and the means by which organisations around the world have solved these problems.

Knowledge and Diplomacy

Knowledge and Diplomacy PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309168716
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
In the international effort to advance human health, welfare, and development while better managing and conserving the environment and natural resources, there is a clear and growing recognition of the role of scientific and technical knowledge in global governance. This has created an urgent need for the United Nations to equip itself with the capability to bring scientific knowledge to inform international decision making. Given the complexity and diversity of United Nations programs, organs, and mandates, this report focuses on the main functions of the United Nations that affect international governance in the fields related to sustainable development, with reference to the taxonomy of the key United Nations organs in which these functions are undertaken. Efforts have been made to ensure that the major categories of United Nations organs have been covered and therefore the results of the review are representative of the functioning of the United Nations system.

Worldwide Science and Technology Advice to the Highest Levels of Governments

Worldwide Science and Technology Advice to the Highest Levels of Governments PDF Author: William T. Golden
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 9781412841856
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
First published in 1990. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A Framework for Science and Technology Advice

A Framework for Science and Technology Advice PDF Author: Canada
Publisher: Gouvernement du Canada
ISBN: 9780662650027
Category : Technology and state
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description