Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Sociology chair's paper explores the relationship between science and politics
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In “Comparative Boundary Work: U.S. Acid Rain and Global Climate Change Policy Deliberations,” Stephen Zehr, chair of the USI Sociology Department, explores the relationship between science and politics – specifically, the boundary between the two, and how they affect communication in the policy realm. The paper will be published in the December issue of "Science and Public Policy," a special issue on boundary work in science and technology policy. “When scientists bring information, politicians often say scientists don’t understand the political side of it,” Zehr said. “Scientists, on the flipside, say that politicians don’t listen to them. “There needs to be some kind of mechanism to bring the two together – to merge the scientific realities with political realities to make things work.” Zehr’s study focuses on cases dealing with acid rain, ozone depletion, and climate change. For some time, Zehr studied the boundary process established in those cases – the way necessary boundaries were created between science and politics, and exactly where those boundaries were placed. “It’s particularly important in policy arenas, because there always is the need for scientists to maintain some sense of objectivity, or the appearance of objectivity – that they’re presenting science, not politics,” Zehr said. “But also, their science has to be delivered in such a way that it is relevant to the politics at hand.” In some cases, such as the climate change case, boundary organizations have been created. These organizations are a framework into which scientific information is brought. The group then uses that information to create political reports. Such groups may be the future of the political/scientific relationship – a way to tailor scientific information for politicians, thus facilitating cooperation between the two. |
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