A Call for a Citizen Scientist Role in Federal Government
Followers of this weblog will be interested in this editorial by Darlene Cavalier of Science Cheerleader: Harnessing Citizen Scientists: Let’s Create a Very Public Office of Technology Assessment:
Congress is right not to reopen the old OTA. The name alone strikes a negative chord with partisan detractors who feel the Office took too long to produce reports and duplicated work by other agencies. And we shouldn’t be looking for excuses to reopen the kind of OTA designed in the 1960s, prior to globalization, in a new era of public participation and the Internet, which makes it possible to expedite research and reporting. But a set of converging factors call for creating a new, inclusive, forward-thinking Office of Technology Assessment. Now is the time for Congress to establish a mechanism to combine these forces and produce meaningful, transparent science policy—based on advice that takes into account scientific data, policy implications, and the opinions of citizens.
I’m a firm believer in citizen science as one path to increasing science literacy. Cavalier takes the next step and insists that we begin to take a more prominent role in policy making ourselves. After all, isn’t that what citizens of a democracy are supposed to do?
Interesting, I Googled “citizen scientist” right after visiting Darlene’s site and I come across this article. Ha! What luck.
From my point of view, as a political scientist, citizen involvement in government is almost always a good thing. BTW, great blog!