TY - JOUR
T1 - Technology Assessment in the U.S. State Legislatures
AU - Guston, David H.
AU - Jones, Megan
AU - Branscomb, Lewis M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Much of the research described in this article was supported by NSF grant # SBR-9321880 and Carnegie Corporation of New York grant # B-6000.
Funding Information:
expansion of federal funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in response to Sputnik, through the creation of the office of special assistant to the president for science and technology and the president's Science Advisory Council \[3, 5\]. And it shifted with the shifting balance of power between the president and Congress when, in 1972, Congress created its own Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in the midst of other recalibrations of legislative-executive power \[6\].
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - With the demise of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and reassertion of state roles in R&D, the future of legislative technology assessment in the United States may indeed reside in the states. This article reviews the history of science and technology advice to state legislatures and, based on a survey of 50 states and field work including 185 interviews in 11 states, describes the status of the provision of technical information and analysis to state legislatures by legislative staff, committees, and inter-branch and inter-sectoral organizations. The article argues that these sources perform a thin form of technology assessment for state legislatures. It concludes by recommending ways in which state legislatures might enhance their performance by adopting a more self-conscious attitude toward their technology assessment role, by expanding participation, and looking to European technology assessment organizations as models.
AB - With the demise of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and reassertion of state roles in R&D, the future of legislative technology assessment in the United States may indeed reside in the states. This article reviews the history of science and technology advice to state legislatures and, based on a survey of 50 states and field work including 185 interviews in 11 states, describes the status of the provision of technical information and analysis to state legislatures by legislative staff, committees, and inter-branch and inter-sectoral organizations. The article argues that these sources perform a thin form of technology assessment for state legislatures. It concludes by recommending ways in which state legislatures might enhance their performance by adopting a more self-conscious attitude toward their technology assessment role, by expanding participation, and looking to European technology assessment organizations as models.
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U2 - 10.1016/s0040-1625(96)00146-1
DO - 10.1016/s0040-1625(96)00146-1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0042131506
SN - 0040-1625
VL - 54
SP - 233
EP - 250
JO - Technological Forecasting and Social Change
JF - Technological Forecasting and Social Change
IS - 2-3
ER -