American Policy Making at the State and Local Level : A Question of Science

Science plays a profound and formidable role in American public policymaking. This is demonstrated by the fact that issues related to science are omnipresent in today's society, and by the fact that in today's rapidly moving society, science has been increasingly called upon to provide information to improve decision making in public affairs (Grief and Mertz, 2007; Sarewitz and Pielke, Jr., 2004; Van Beek and Isaacs, 2008) . Whether science involves the present-day focus on energy independence, nuclear waste disposal, or the enduring questions about climate change, science mixes quite extensively with the everyday decisions of citizens and policymakers in our democratic society. The purpose of our research is to explore the linkage of science to public policymaking as viewed from the perspective of state and local public officials - policymakers who are in position to use science in formulating and implementing public policy on a daily basis, attempting to solve some of America's most enduring problems. If science plays such a formidable role in American public policymaking, then we should see its influence in the views of our state and local policymakers. Moreover, by systematically reviewing the thoughts and ideas of public officials who work at the state and local level of government, we examine the science-policy linkage as it plays out at our most basic level of governance