Science in Environmental Policy: The Politics of Objective Advice (Politics, Science, and the Environment)

Scientists often bring issues to the policy agenda, translating
scientific questions into everyday language and political terms. When Roger Revelle
characterized Earth as a spaceship in testimony to Congress in 1957, his evocative
language framed the issue of our planet's climate vulnerability in a way that
technical discourse could not. In this book, Ann Campbell Keller examines the
influence of scientists on environmental policymaking and makes the novel argument
that scientists' adherence to the role of neutral advisor varies over the course of
the policymaking process. Keller divides the policy process into three
stages--agenda setting, legislation, and implementation--and compares scientists'
influence on acid rain and climate change policy at these different stages over the
course of several decades. She finds that scientists face more pressure to uphold
the ideal of objectivity as policy-making processes advance and become more
formalized, and thus are more likely to engage in advocacy and persuasion in the
earlier, less formal, agenda-setting stage of the process. In the later, more
structured legislative and implementation phases, scientists--working hard to give
the appearance of neutral expertise--cede the role of persuader to others.Keller
draws on theoretical work in political science and science studies and on empirical
evidence from scientific reports, news coverage, congressional hearings, and
interviews. Focusing on comparable cases and considering scientists' participation
in them over time, she offers unique insights into how the context of decision
making affects scientists' policy influence and emphasizes the multiple pathways by
which scientific meaning is constructed in public settings.