TECHNICAL INFORMATION FOR CONGRESS 



(Case Studies of Information Collection and Analysis to Support 

 Congressional Decision-Making on Technical Issues) 



CHAPTER ONE— INTRODUCTION 



This report is introductory to a series of case studies of selected 

 past decisions by the Congress involving the interface between science 

 and politics. The focus of the case studies is on the sources of the 

 scientific and technical information and advice received by those 

 participating in the decision process. The purpose of the case studies 

 is to shed light on the processes involved in congressional decisions 

 on scientific issues. 



Statement of the Problem 



The Congress of the United States has the responsibility under the 

 Constitution for making the law. Increasmgly, the lawmaking func- 

 tion has been taking on a scientific content. The necessity has 

 accordingly arisen for Members of Congress to participate in many 

 decisions relating to science. 



They must resolve issues and make laws for the achievement of 

 social objectives involving programs, activities, and persons char- 

 acterized as "scientific." The problem is: How do politicians obtain 

 information and advice from scientists? 



In order to investigate this subject, a case study approach has been 

 proposed that wUl iUustrate the dimensions and the character of this 

 question. The distinctive features of the scientific world and the 

 political world can be recognized and described. The nature and 

 problems of communication between these two worlds can, it is 

 hoped, be presented in meaningful terms. 



Plan for the Study 



The case histories to be examined in the following chapters of this 

 study are purposefully selected to bring out the various aspects of the 

 problem. They are selected to reveal how the Congress, in dealing 

 with various kinds of scientific issues and by various Idnds of decision 

 mechanisms, has obtained and applied scientific advice and mforma- 

 tion. 



In selecting instructive cases to bring out the essential elernents 

 and problems of the scientific advisory function relative to pohtical 

 decisionmaking, the following criteria were used for an initial screening: 



1 . Reasonably recent (since World War II) . 



2. Significant enough to have evoked some debate. 



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