The Politics of Science Policy in the Periphery of Europe: The Case of Portugal

Abstract

Studies on the relationship between science, technology and public policy have predominantly focused on the advanced industrialised countries. This article provides an overview and interpretation of the evolution of science policy in Portugal—a relatively less industrialised and a peripheral European country with a number of contrasting features with the developing countries. Policy analysis has emphasised the nature of public policies as dynamic processes that are influenced or determined by various contextual factors, institutional con straints, interests and policy cultures of the actors involved. Such a set of factors seem to be particularly distinctive and explanatory in countries marked by strong socio cultural and institutional idiosyncrasies sometimes deeply rooted in political and economic history, as in the case of Southern Europe. In the political and legal discourse, the importance of science and technology and the role of the state in their stimulation has been recurrently acknowledged in Portugal. Despite the manifestation of S&T policy issues in the political discourse, science and technology policy remains of secondary importance to the overall eco nomic policy area as such. The reason for this apparent contradiction between political discourse and practical realities appears to be rooted in the political and social cultures, particularly in the way science and its applications are perceived and utilised (or not utilised) by most of the enterprises, social organisations and political administrative structures.