Cosmopolitan Reform in Science and Technology Governance

Abstract

Transboundary risks are an increasingly common occurrence in the contemporary world, and through the process of globalization, these transboundary risks have spread, giving rise to a growing number of environmental, health, ethical and social concerns, which in turn challenge the governance capacity of governments worldwide. In light of these developments, over the past ten years the EU, IRGC and WHO have begun to propose a form of governance which places greater emphasis on risk communication, public communication and ST this paper also points out that efforts to build transnational institutional mechanisms for dealing with these issues have not gone smoothly. In particular the more authoritative form of government traditionally seen in these East Asian countries and the technocrat governance system born out of these countries' tradition of elite rule tradition both possess a serious challenge to building such transnational institutions. That is to say that cosmopolitan governance as a process produces different problems and challenges as it responds to the unique social and political context of different countries. More particularly it would be worth considering whether this type of slow moving risk regulatory culture is a shared characteristic of only newly industrialized societies or developing countries, or whether it actually exists in the mindset of developed countries too.