Towards a Theory of Science Policy

Abstract

This article is an attempt, through a review of the books listed below, to assess the state-of-the-art in science policy. Its focus is not on any of the specific issues (the environment, defence research, mechanisms for the support of research, etc.) which preoccupy policymakers and constitute the subject-matter of the great mass of reports, legislative proposals, policy studies, and scholarly books and articles which make up the growing spate of science policy literature. My concern is rather with questions of theory and method at the most general level of thought, such as: Is there any validity to the conventional categories of scientific research: basic, applied, developmental, technological? What kinds of information, analysis, and advice are useful to policymakers? Ought the social sciences to be dealt with in the same way as the natural sciences? Is it desirable, or even possible, for non-scientists and the public at large to participate in the direction of scientific research and the management of scientific resources? If so, by what general division of responsibilities and mechanisms should this be accomplished ? Whatever the feasibility of this project, its desirability can hardly be questioned. Anybody familiar with the field knows how little attention is being paid to these questions of theory and method, even though all studies of science policies, however trivial the issues, must make assumptions about them. And the few writers who do address these issues seldom start with a careful, attentive review of the literature. Here, as in many other areas of