A Strategic Analysis of Science and Technology Policy by Harvey A. Averch, and: Science, Technology, and Policy Decisions by Anne L. Hiskes, Richard P. Hiskes, and: Tradeoffs: Imperatives of Choice in a High-Tech World by Edward Wenk, Jr

Abstract

988 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE A Strategic Analysis ofScience and Technology Policy. By Harvey A. Averch. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985. Pp. xiv+ 216; bibliography, index. $20.00; £17.80. Science, Technology, andPolicy Decisions. By Anne L. Hiskes and Richard P. Hiskes. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1986. Pp.ix+ 198; notes, bib­ liography, index. $35.00 (cloth); $15.95 (paper). Tradeoffs: Imperatives of Choice in a High-Tech World. By Edward Wenk, Jr. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986. Pp. xii + 238; bibliography, index. $19.95. Interest in science and technology (S&T) policy has been growing rapidly in recent years, as technology-intensive problems—from ozone depletion to AIDS—multiply, and as the United States looks to “high tech” as a means of achieving national security and economic com­ petitiveness. These three books are among a rather substantial num­ ber of recent titles in the area. Although their subject is nominally the same, they approach it in very different ways, reflecting the dif­ fering interests, experience bases, and intellectual and ideological pre­ dispositions of their authors. All three may find use as texts in courses on S&T policy, but only the Hiskes and Hiskes book is explicitly po­ sitioned for this market, and only the Wenk book seems likely to succeed in it. Harvey Averch, an economist and former assistant director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) for scientific, technological, and international affairs, reviews the history of postwar S&T policy, draw­ ing out the threads of policy argument into an elaborate series of propositions and subpropositions. Averch’s interests center on sup­ port of R&D and closely allied issues: resource allocation, science and engineering education, innovation policy, S&T information, and tech­ nology in international trade and development assistance. He ex­ amines these issues through insightful, generally well-informed discussions of key events and trends during the postwar period. His propositions are numbered, italicized, and couched in carefully cho­ sen words. Some are illustrated by examples drawn from the science policy literature; others are documented with citations. In general, though, the format is a bit artificial and not particularly user-friendly. Averch sees S&T policy in terms of a continuing conflict between scientists protecting their turf and policymakers who must balance the scientists’ demands against those of other interest groups. Despite (or perhaps because of) his experience at NSF, he seems intent on challenging the conventional wisdom of S&T policy and debunking the pet arguments of the scientific community. Averch believes there is irony in the fact that policymaking in the S&T arena—where the subject itself is systematic, rational inquiry—is at best unsystematic and at worst irrational. He wants to improve policy-making for science and technology by applying the tools of systematic policy analysis. TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 989 Anne L. Hiskes and Richard P. Hiskes—a husband-and-wife team at the University of Connecticut, where she is a philosopher and he is a political scientist—are also concerned with improving policy-making for science and technology. Their aim is similar to Averch’s, to “un­ derstand the reasons for the failure of U.S. policymakers to provide a coherent policy for these two crucial areas” (p. 1). The territory they stake out is broader, however, and they approach their subject through a series of case studies. Opening chapters present a philosophy of science and technology and a history of S&T policy-making. The six chapters that follow discuss policy-making in energy, nuclear power plant siting, radioactive wastes, cable TV, recombinant DNA research, and new biomedical technology. A prescriptive chapter on improving policy-making for science and technology rounds out the volume. Like Averch, Hiskes and Hiskes have an ax to grind. In their case it is public participation in S&T policy-making. The authors believe that the policy system for S&T has failed because it does not incor­ porate the diversity of interests affected by its policies. Their remedy for this is to provide opportunities for greater citizen input through­ out the process. Edward Wenk is also enthusiastic about the role of public partici­ pation in S&T policy. Wenk’s book is concerned with the social man­ agement of technology—perhaps not surprisingly for a man whose title as an emeritus professor at the University of...