37 



panels was a legal and necessary part of the government's 

 machinery. 5 



This preference for a pluralistic structure of Federal science sup- 

 port was reflected in the NSF's failure to absorb the military, nu- 

 clear, and medical research programs developed within the Depart- 

 ment of Defense, Atomic Energy Commission, and National Insti- 

 tutes of Health. Despite some early proposals for the NSF to in- 

 clude such research, the framework for the Federal support of sci- 

 ence already had been established. Proponents of a central scientif- 

 ic organization continued to tout the virtues of coordination and 

 planning. Nevertheless, Congress chose to maintain the traditional 

 pluralistic system of Federal support for science. 



As a result, NSF's funding levels for scientific research remained 

 far lower than those of the mission-oriented agencies. Although 

 Bush had called for a budget of $33.5 million for NSF's first year, 

 its initial budget was $3.5 million. By its fifth year, NSF had a $16 

 million budget, rather than Bush's target of $122.5 million. The 

 agency's budget amounted to only a small percentage of the na- 

 tion's overall expenditures for research and development. Federal 

 support of basic research thus remained overwhelmingly the prod- 

 uct of the mission agencies. 



NSF's Science Policy Responsibilities 



By 1950, the Bureau of the Budget (BOB) had become dissatisfied 

 with what it saw as the fragmented, uncoordinated character of the 

 Federal science program. Within the Executive Branch, the BOB 

 historically had been the principal office responsible for overseeing 

 the various Federal programs, and did so through its evaluation of 

 annual requests for appropriations. The rapid expansion of re- 

 search and development programs throughout the Federal Govern- 

 ment since World War II placed a special burden on the BOB. 6 In 

 consequence, it sought to infuse the NSF with national science pol- 

 icymaking responsibilities, especially with regard to the scientific 

 research programs of the various Federal agencies. This informal 

 pressure to strengthen the NSF's science policymaking function 

 during the early 1950s received official sanction in 1954 when 

 President Eisenhower issued an Executive Order specifically as- 

 signing policymaking responsibilities to the NSF. 7 The NSF never 

 lived up to these science policymaking expectations, partly because 

 its position within the Government hierarchy did not grant it au- 

 thority over other agencies and departments. Fearing political re- 

 percussions from the other agencies with science programs, NSF 

 Director Alan Waterman also made the decision to limit NSF's sci- 

 ence policy authority. 8 



5 National Academy of Sciences, Federal Support of Basic Research in Institutions of Higher 

 Learning (Washington: National Research Council, 1964), p. 47. 



6 See William D. Carey, "Budgeting for Science: Presidential Responsibility," Annals of the 

 American Academy of Political and Social Science, 327 (January 1960), 76-84; and Morgan Sher- 

 wood, "Federal Policy for Basic Research: Presidential Staff and the National Science Founda- 

 tion, 1950-1956," Journal of American History, 55 (December 1968), 599-615. 



7 Executive Order No. 10521, 17 March 1954. See also, Wilson, Academic Science, pp. 24-25. 



8 See England, A Patron for Pure Science, pp. 181-202. 



