Abstract
This paper examines technical information and decision making in state legislatures. Reporting on field work from eleven state legislatures, we examine: 1) their need for science and technology policy support; 2) internal and external sources of such support available to them; 3) the characteristics of useful support; 4) their use of computer technology; 5) the role of technical information in a political environment; 6) and their level of satisfaction with existing science and technology policy support. We find an increasing need for technical information and analysis and some satisfactory access to a variety of internal and external sources. But a lack of specialized expertise among staff, scarce access to prospective analyses, and unfulfilled expectations for the informational role of state universities limit satisfaction. State legislatures should consider: 1) improving internal staff expertise; 2) increasing computer access, use, and training for staff and legislators; and 3) facilitating access to state universities and inter-sectoral organizations.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | International Symposium on Technology and Society |
Place of Publication | Piscataway, NJ, United States |
Publisher | IEEE |
Pages | 43-54 |
Number of pages | 12 |
State | Published - 1996 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | Proceedings of the 1996 International Symposium on Technology and Society - Princeton, NJ, USA Duration: Jun 21 1996 → Jun 22 1996 |
Other
Other | Proceedings of the 1996 International Symposium on Technology and Society |
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City | Princeton, NJ, USA |
Period | 6/21/96 → 6/22/96 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Engineering