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Using a Consensus Conference to Learn about Public Participation in Policymaking in Areas of Technical Controversy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2002

Robert Hudspith
Robert Hudspith
Affiliation:
Associate professor of engineering, and Director and instructor in a Theme School on Science, Technology, and Public Policy at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. His scholarship is in curriculum development in technology and society studies, and in the development of an inquiry approach to learning.
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Extract

Citizen participation in the development of public policy concerning science and technology may sound like a good, and even a necessary, idea for a democratic society (Foltz 1999). But if the issue proves to be controversial, and if even the experts cannot agree, how can the average person play a meaningful role? Students who study all sides of a technical or scientific controversy are likely to feel that a consensus on public policy is impossible. It is not immediately obvious that ordinary citizens can help to forge a consensus.

Type
Research Article
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , June 2001 , pp. 313 - 317
Copyright
© 2001 by the American Political Science Association

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