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Three secrets of survival in science advice

Be impartial, humble and good value, urge Chris Tyler and Karen Akerlof.
  1. Chris Tyler

    1. Chris Tyler is director of public policy in the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP) at University College London.

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  2. Karen Akerlof

    1. Karen Akerlof is an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA.

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The offices that give science advice to politicians are among the most important public bodies you’ve never heard of. Some nations — notably the United States and Denmark — have closed or stopped funding them. Elsewhere, these bodies are thriving: in the United Kingdom and France, for example. Differences between the healthy and the defunct hold lessons for countries that hope to improve the use of science in law-making and political debate.

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Nature 566, 175-177 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00518-x

References

  1. Bimber, B. A. The Politics of Expertise in Congress: The Rise and Fall of the Office of Technology Assessment (SUNY Press, 1996).

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  2. Graves, Z. Rebuilding a Technology Assessment Office in Congress: Frequently Asked Questions. R Street Policy Study No. 152 (R Street Institute, 2018); available at go.nature.com/2wmn9e2

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  3. Morgan, M. G. & Peha, J. M. (eds) Science and Technology Advice for Congress (Routledge, 2003).

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  4. Sadowski, J. Technol. Soc. 42, 9–20 (2015).

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  5. Kenny, C., Washbourne, C.-L., Tyler, C. & Blackstock, J. J. Palgrave Commun. 3, 17030 (2017).

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  6. Tyler, C. in Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Whitehall (eds Doubleday, R. & Wilsdon, J.) 115–120 (Univ. Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy, 2013).

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