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Science policy‐making, democracy, and changing knowledge institutions
Author(s) -
Pereira Tiago Santos
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
international social science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.237
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1468-2451
pISSN - 0020-8701
DOI - 10.1111/j.0020-8701.2004.00487.x
Subject(s) - democracy , corporate governance , incentive , science policy , political science , policy making , democratic governance , public policy , set (abstract data type) , sociology of scientific knowledge , public administration , sociology , economics , social science , law , politics , management , programming language , computer science , microeconomics
The increased demands placed upon science from various social actors are not just a challenge for scientists but also for policy‐makers. How to address the concerns of the public as well as the call from industry, while at the same time guaranteeing conditions for scientific development? This paper argues that such concerns are not incompatible but rather must be at the centre of policies for science that recognise the central role of science in our democratic societies. Through the analysis of science policy developments in Portugal, and the difficulties in changing the basis of earlier models, it is considered that policy‐making for science ought to renegotiate the social contract for science to incorporate democratic principles of good governance and not be captured by specific concerns. In this way, between the earlier models of self‐governance and the capture by “competitiveness coalitions”, science policy‐making should create incentives for the participation of a wider set of social actors in policy‐making, as well as in interactions with knowledge institutions.