The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics

by Roger A. Pielke, Jr

• ISBN13: 9780521873208
• ISBN10: 0521873207
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-05-14
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Scientists have a choice concerning what role they should play in political debates and policy formation, particularly in terms of how they present their research. This book is about understanding this choice, what considerations are important to think about when deciding, and the consequences of such choices for the individual scientist and the broader scientific enterprise. Rather than prescribing what course of action each scientist ought to take, the book aims to identify a range of options for individual scientists to consider in making their own judgments about how they would like to position themselves in relation to policy and politics. Using examples from a range of scientific controversies and thought-provoking analogies from other walks of life, The Honest Broker challenges us all - scientists, politicians and citizens - to think carefully about how best science can contribute to policy-making and a healthy democracy.

Author Biography

Roger A. Pielke, Jr., is Professor in the Environmental Studies Program and Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado at Boulder

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables	p. viii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Four idealized roles of science in policy and politics	p. 1
The big picture, science, and democracy	p. 8
Science and decision-making	p. 22
Values	p. 39
Uncertainty	p. 54
How science policy shapes science in policy and politics	p. 76
Preemption and the decision to go to war in Iraq	p. 97
When scientists politicize science	p. 116
Making sense of science in policy and politics	p. 135
Applying the framework	p. 153
Notes	p. 163
References	p. 169
Index	p. 183
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