real mechanism exists to guide policy making and pri- 

 ority-setting, much less to blueprint and administer 

 the whole enterprise. Science policy emerges not as 

 a grand design but rather as the end product of a com- 

 plex interaction of diverse and partial wills. The 

 overall set of S&T policies lacks unity and coherence. 



In the Soviet Union, on the contrary, there is a 

 much more formal process, structure, and policy for 

 science and technology. The set of institutions re- 

 sponsible for R&D planning and management is more ex- 

 plicit and functionally specialized; procedures are 

 more uniform and clearly defined; and authority is 

 hierarchical and centralized at the top. The whole 

 system is built, in principle and aspiration, to pro- 

 duce comprehensive and unified S&T policies that are 

 an integral part of overall macroeconomic plans and 

 development strategies. 



The roles and responsibilities of government, in 

 particular, are perceptibly different. In the Amer- 

 ican setting government plays primarily an indirect 

 and supporting role, serving as a catalyst to create 

 a climate favorable to science and its applications. 

 The system is premised upon a basic division of labor 

 between public and private institutions as well as 

 the belief that whenever possible private incentives 

 and the normal play of market mechanisms should be 

 relied on to generate relevant R&D and technological 

 innovation. Only in those areas where market forces 

 are deficient or where it has major responsibilities, 

 such as defense and space, does government take a di- 

 rect administrative role. The difference between 

 federal markets and competitive private markets must 

 be recognized. In the former the government frequent- 

 ly plans, funds, and manages directly the R&D and is 

 also the principal customer of the results. The whole 

 process is heavily authoritarian with strong emphasis 

 on roles and controls, resembling that of the USSR 

 with its one giant public sector and command economy. 

 In the latter, the competitive private market, the 

 government's role is only indirect. This is the ma- 

 jor American market. 



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