Increasing Public Participation in Controversies Involving Hazards: The Value of Metastatistical Rules

Abstract

Despite increased public concern over the social consequences of policies regarding hazardous substances and practices (e.g., nuclear technology, toxic wastes, carcinogenic substances), there has not been adequate public representation in the controversial decisions upon which these policies are based. The problem of inadequate public participation in controversies is therefore often raised in interdisciplinary studies of science, technology, and society. In a recent issue of Science, Technology, & Human Values,' for example, it was a common theme running through a diverse set of essays on the role of technical knowledge in regulatory decisionmaking. As those essays demonstrated, although many policy analysts apparently agree on the importance of public participation, there is no clear consensus about how the problem should be tackled and about what role, if any, interdisciplinary work in science studies can play. The problem of public participation in decisions on hazardous technologies arises out of the tension between the need for scientific expertise in assessing hazards and the desire that people in a democracy have control over important social decisions. Differing attitudes toward public participation reflect differing views on the nature and importance of the technical-scientific components of hazard regulation and the policy value ones.