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Science in Democracy
Science in Democracy Expertise, Institutions, and Representation
Mark B. Brown
The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England
© 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please email special_sales @mitpress.mit.edu This book was set in Sabon by Westchester Book Composition. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brown, Mark B. Science in democracy : expertise, institutions, and representation / Mark B. Brown. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01324-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-262-51304-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Science—Political aspects. 2. Science and state. 3. Science and state—Citizen participation. 4. Representative government and representation. 5. Democracy. I. Title. Q175.5.B759 2009 320.01—dc22 2009005952 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii Acknowledgments Introduction
xv
1
I Modern Politics and the Mirror of Nature 1 Niccolò Machiavelli and the Popular Politics of Expertise 2 Power and Publicity in Modern Science
23
43
3 Consent and Competence in Representative Government
65
4 Liberal Rationalism and Government Advisory Committees
93
II Democratizing Representation in Science and Politics 5 Thomas Hobbes and the Authorization of Science
107
6 John Dewey and the Reconstruction of Representation 7 Bruno Latour and the Symmetries of Science and Politics 8 How Science Becomes Political
185
9 Elements of Democratic Representation
201
10 Institutionalizing Democratic Representation Conclusion Notes 261 Bibliography Index 345
257 309
239
135 163
Preface
From global warming to biotechnology, politics today is closely intertwined with the sciences. According to the dominant image of science and politics, politics provides the money, with no questions asked, and science produces knowledge, technology, and medicine. This pleasant image has become rather tarnished in recent years, as intractable public controversies have politicized science policy, expertise, and research. Many commentators respond to the politicization of science by attempting to revive an imagined Golden Age of value-free science. They call for getting the politics out of science, concerned that if science is shaped by society it will fail to accurately represent nature. They tend to believe that representation in science should strive for unmediated correspondence to reality. The most common alternative response to science politicization has been to promote lay participation in science. From grassroots movements to public hearings to randomly selected citizen advisory bodies, many scholars, activists, and public officials have argued that lay input will improve both the effectiveness and legitimacy of science policy, expertise, and research. They hope that public participation wi