Winning greater influence for science

Issues in Science and Technology, Summer 2003 by Yankelovich, Daniel

Our society has excellent mechanisms for the first step: placing issues before the public. The media, as well as political and civic leadership, are highly skilled at raising awareness of key issues, as can be seen in the increased public concern about global warming. Awareness by itself, however, is not enough. All too often, the media beat the drums for an issue, get people aroused, and then abandon it for the next issue, leaving the public hanging and the issue unresolved. Moving people beyond awareness to judgment and resolution is far more arduous. It requires considerable "working through" as the public seeks to reconcile possible courses of action with their own deeply held beliefs and habits.

Global warming, for example, is stalled at the threshold of this phase: Awareness of the issue is growing, but thus far the public has resisted coming to terms with the tradeoffs involved in any serious solution. Should we permit an international agreement such as the Kyoto treaty to constrain our domestic policies? Is a push for alternative fuels worth the high cost of the investment? Should our control of carbon dioxide emissions be so stringent that it limits economic growth? The public must come to judgment on these and similar questions of values before any sustainable policy can be put into place.

Unfortunately, our society lacks effective institutions for taking this second step, especially on science-laden issues. The media are not equipped to do it, nor are most political leaders, who operate through advocacy rather than through encouraging the public to make up its own mind. Scientists, however, are potentially well equipped for this task. With a certain amount of instruction and experience, a small cadre of scientists could, if sufficiently determined to do so, establish a new, more robust model of public engagement.

This model would adapt for the general public the strategy of framing policy options described earlier. The scientists' role would be twofold. First, they would formulate a range of policy options and scenarios for science-laden issues, paying special attention to the pros and cons of each and keeping in mind the public's primary concern: how does this affect me, my community, and my world? Then scientists would collaborate with experts in public dialogue in presenting these scenarios to random samples of citizens. A number of organizations (my own company among them) have developed innovative methods for accelerating the working-through process with citizens. We utilize special forms of dialogue that encourage participants to engage issues with unprecedented depth and intensity. These special citizen dialogues predict the likely direction public opinion will take once the larger population has understood the tradeoffs associated with complex scientific issues. These citizen dialogues give leadership the insight into public priorities and values they need in order to engage the full electorate.

A new career path

Science is one the very few fields where individuals make major contributions at a young age. Thus, many scientists find themselves at a crossroads relatively early in their careers. Most choose to continue as working scientists, but others are ready to consider attractive alternatives. I believe that the role of scientist as bridge builder and policy formulator offers an appealing alternative for those drawn to top-level decisionmaking and the give and take of public life. For those with a conceptual bent, this alternative would be far more attractive than administrative work.