Download Science vs. Politics Science vs. Politics: the Problem 1/15/2014 Ideal

1/15/2014
Science vs. Politics
Science vs. Politics: the Problem
• Ideal:
– Scientists study, discover & report findings
– Public & politicians consider their input
• Reality:
– Some people & politicians distrust scientists
– People reject scientific findings even when
consensus exists among scientists
• Why?
Sources of Public Knowledge about
Science
• School
– Education is limited
– Many students do not complete H.S. or college
– Social science/humanities students avoid science
– Climate change not taught in many courses
– Older people were in classrooms long ago
• E.g., Attention to climate change dates to the 1980s, a
consensus dates to the late 1990s
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Sources of Public Knowledge about
Science
• Mass media – TV
– Few science shows on TV
– Scripted TV offers nothing (Star Trek?)
– Reality TV is empty
– PBS, National Geographic a few shows
– But low ratings (not many viewers)
• Viewers are self-selected
– Who is likely to watch a program on climate
change?
Sources of Public Knowledge about
Science
• Mass media – Nightly news
– Headline service: 22 minutes
– If it bleeds, it leads
– Sports, politics (Chris Christy), extreme weather,
feel good stories at the end of the broadcast
– Lots to cover, little time
– Few stories on climate change
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Sources of Public Knowledge about
Science
• Mass media – Newspapers
– Some stories on climate change
– IPCC reports, scientific findings
– Congressional hearings
– Political activities (e.g., campaign to have UC sell
fossil fuel stocks)
• Not much coverage
• Self-selection
Sources of Public Knowledge about
Science
• Mass media – Journalism
– Journalists’ norm: cover two sides of issues
– Some scientists argue that HIV
does not cause AIDS, but is a
passenger virus
– See Celia Farber, "Out of Control: AIDS and the
Corruption of Medical Science.” Harper’s Magazine,
March 2006
Peter Duesberg
Sources of Public Knowledge about
Science
• Politicians
– When our leaders tell us about science, we tend
to believe them
– This is covered in the news
• Policy advocacy groups
– Publications: books, magazine articles, op/ed
pieces
– “Experts” to respond to media inquiries
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Science vs. Politics: Our Biases
• Think about your values (biases):
– Liberal, moderate, conservative, environmentalist,
– These values color how we see the world
• Selective Exposure
– What you choose to watch or read
• Trust in messages varies with content
– We tend to believe messages that match our biases
Learning about Science
• We accept messages that are consistent with
our values and prior beliefs
Liberal
Liberal message
Conservative message
Conservative
Low
Political knowledge
High
See John Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion
Reasons for Disagreeing with Science
• Business Profits
– Corporations want to sell products that are risky
or unhealthy
– Tobacco companies began attacking scientific
studies showing that smoking causes cancer and
other diseases in the 1950s
– They demonstrated that anti-science campaigns
work
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Reasons for Disagreeing with Science
• Business Profits, but …
– Business leaders may believe their own propaganda
• They also believe “facts” that are consistent with their
values
• Motivated reasoning
– Some risky products can be justified
• It’s a free country, why can’t people smoke if they want?
• Lots of jobs will be lost if we end tobacco sales
– Profit motives don’t necessarily make them bad
people
Campaigns for Skepticism re: Science
• Huge amounts of money are being spent to
encourage skepticism of global warming
science
– 50 think tanks advocate skepticism (with
corporate support)
– 141 (at least) skeptical books published 1972-2005
with corporate support
– See Peter Jacques et al., “The Organisation of Denial: Conservative Think Tanks and
Environmental Scepticism.” Environmental Politics, 17 (2008): 349-85.
Reasons for Disagreeing with Science
• Common sense & genuine disagreement
– Sometimes people find scientific claims
unbelievable
– People reason out their own answers
– A recent study finds that temperature
over/under 1971-2005 mean in the week before
an opinion survey predicts belief in global
warming
•
Patrick Egan & Megan Mullin, “Turning Personal Experience into Political Attitudes: The
Effect of Local Weather on Americans’ Perceptions about Global Warming
“http://saramitchell.org/mullin.pdf
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Reasons for Disagreeing with Science
• Common sense & genuine disagreement
– Opposition to vaccines
– Vaccine Zombie
– http://www.naturalnews.com/vaccine_zombie.html
Science vs. Politics: the Problem
• Ideal:
– Scientists study, discover & report findings
– Public & politicians consider their input
• Reality:
– People reject scientific findings even when
consensus exists among scientists
• Implication:
– Science must be treated like an opinion or vote
– Science education/outreach campaigns needed
Science vs. Politics in Government
• Ideal:
– Scientists study, discover & report findings
– Politicians & bureaucrats consider their input
• Reality:
– Gov’t leaders/bureaucrats reject scientific findings
even when consensus exists among scientists
– They believe they know better
– Or they want to help their political allies
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The Role of Science in Government
• Typical gov’t agency hierarchy:
1. Political Appointees
- e.g., Secretary of Energy, EPA Administrator
2. Senior Executive Service (top civil service bureaucrats)
- Pay & promotion partly depends on political evaluation
- Does the person follow the president’s policy preferences?
3. Career civil service
- Most gov’t scientists are here
The Role of Science in Government
• Scientific studies conducted by career gov’t
employees are subject to review by higher
authorities
– Political appointees & SES civil servants may have
the authority to:
• Prevent studies from being published
• Require gov’t scientists to revise conclusions
• Edit studies
The Role of Science in Government
• Political “authority” is limited
– Too many scientific reports for political appointees
to intervene & revise
– Most political appointees respect scientists
– Political appointees have to be careful about
pushing too hard if they want to change reports
• The scientists can respond by going public
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The Role of Science in Government
• New rules recently established by Obama
administration
• Too soon to tell how well they will work
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