Science and Technology Advice for Congress

by Morgan, M. Granger; Peha, Jon M.

• ISBN13: 9781891853753
• ISBN10: 1891853759
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-09-01
• Publisher: Resources for the Future

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Contributors	ix
Part I: The Issue
1. Analysis, Governance, and the Need for Better Institutional Arrangements	3	(20)
M. Granger Morgan and Jon M. Peha
Part II: Background
2. Technical Advice for Congress: Past Trends and Present Obstacles	23	(30)
Bruce L.R. Smith and Jeffrey K. Stine
3. The Origins, Accomplishments, and Demise of the Office of Technology Assessment	53	(24)
Robert M. Margolis and David H. Gustou
4. Insights from the Office of Technology Assessment and Other Assessment Experiences	77	(13)
David H. Gustou
5. The European Experience	90	(11)
Norman J. Vig
Part III: Possible Institutional Models
6. Thinking about Alternative Models	101	(5)
M. Granger Morgan and Jon M. Peha
7. An Expanded Analytical Capability in the Congressional Research Service, the General Accounting Office, or the Congressional Budget Office	106	(12)
Christopher T. Hill
8. Expanded Use of the National Academies	118	(16)
John Ahearne and Peter Blair
9. Expanding the Role of the Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship Program	134	(11)
Albert H. Teich and Stephen J. Lita
10. A Lean, Distributed Organization To Serve Congress	145	(12)
M. Granger Morgan, Jon M. Peha, and Daniel E. Hastings
11. A Dedicated Organization in Congress	157	(7)
Gerald L. Epstein and Ashton B. Carter
12. An Independent Analysis Group That Works Exclusively for Congress, Operated by a Nongovernmental Organization	164	(9)
Caroline S. Wagner and William A. Stiles Jr.
Part IV: Moving toward Solution
13. Where Do We Go from Here"	173	(10)
M. Granger Morgan and Jon M. Peha
Appendix 1: The Technology Assessment Act of 1972	183	(8)
Appendix 2: Details on the National Academies Complex	191	(17)
Appendix 3: An External Evaluation of the GAO's First Pilot Technology Assessment	208	(21)
Index	229