The Political Context of Science in the United States: Public Acceptance of Evidence-Based Policy and Science Funding

Social Forces ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 723-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Gauchat
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Public Acceptance ◽  
The Political ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Science Funding ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
Policy And Science

What is Happening in the United States? How Social Classes Influence the Political Life of the Country and its Health and Quality of Life

2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142199484
Author(s):  
Vicente Navarro
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
United States ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Race And Gender

This article analyses the political changes that have been occurring in the United States (including the elections for the presidency of the country) and their consequences for the health and quality of life of the population. A major thesis of this article is that there is a need to analyse, besides race and gender, other categories of power - such as social class - in order to understand what happens in the country. While the class structure of the United States is similar to that of major Western European countries, the political context is very different. The U.S. political context has resulted in the very limited power of its working class, which explains the scarcity of labor, political and social rights in the country, such as universal access to health care.

The Turn Away from Government and the Need to Revive the Civic Purpose of Higher Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 442-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine J. Cramer
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Political Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Political

Higher education in the United States has proud roots in the mission to enable people to engage in self-governance. The current political context is pushing us in another direction. I discuss the context in Wisconsin in particular, and use the challenges there as a reason to consider the civic purposes of political science. Rather than allow the political winds to blow us further into elitism, I argue that we should renew our commitment to educating people for citizenship.

scholarly journals Political Science Funding Black Out in North America? Trends in Funding Should not be Ignored

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (03) ◽  
pp. 599-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Plazek ◽  
Alan Steinberg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Political Science ◽  
National Science Foundation ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Science Funding ◽  
National Science ◽  
One Year

AbstractRecent actions in Congress that threaten political science funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have caught the attention of political scientists, but this was not the first attack and not likely to be the last. Less than one year ago, the Harper government ended the Understanding Canada program, an important source of funding for academics in the United States and abroad. This article stresses the value of the program and the importance of this funding steam by demonstrating what the grants have done both more generally as well as for the authors individually. In addition, by looking at the political process that led to the end of the Understanding Canada program and the similarities in the attacks on NSF political science funding, this article identifies potential reasons why these funds were and are at risk. We conclude by arguing that normative action in support of political science is a necessity for all political scientists.

scholarly journals Legislative activity related to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in the United States (2006–2015): a need for evidence-based policy

2017 ◽  
Vol Volume 10 ◽  
pp. 29-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Keim-Malpass ◽  
Emma M Mitchell ◽  
Pamela B DeGuzman ◽  
Mark H Stoler ◽  
Christine Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Papillomavirus ◽  
Hpv Vaccine ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
Legislative Activity

scholarly journals Defending scientific integrity in conservation policy processes: lessons from Canada, Australia, and the United States

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Carroll ◽  
Brett Hartl ◽  
Gretchen T Goldman ◽  
Daniel J Rohlf ◽  
Adrain Treves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
The United States ◽  
Conservation Policy ◽  
Scientific Integrity ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Scientific Societies ◽  
Evidence Based Policy

Government agencies faced with politically controversial decisions often discount or ignore scientific information, whether from agency staff or non-governmental scientists. Recent developments in scientific integrity (the ability to perform, use, communicate and publish science free from censorship or political interference) in Canada, Australia and the United States demonstrate a similar trajectory: a perceived increase in scientific integrity abuses is followed by concerted pressure by the scientific community, leading to efforts to improve scientific integrity protections under a new administration. However, protections are often inconsistently applied, and are at risk of reversal under administrations that are publicly hostile to evidence-based policy. We compare recent challenges to scientific integrity to determine what aspects of scientific input into conservation policy are most at risk of political distortion and what can be done to strengthen safeguards against such abuses. To ensure the integrity of outbound communication from government scientists to public, we suggest that governments strengthen scientific integrity policies, include scientists’ right to speak freely in collective bargaining agreements, guarantee public access to scientific information, and strengthen agency culture supporting scientific integrity. To ensure the transparency and integrity with which information from non-governmental scientists (e.g., submitted comments or formal policy reviews) informs the policy process, we suggest that governments broaden the scope of independent reviews, ensure greater diversity of expert input with transparency regarding conflicts of interest, require substantive response to input from agencies, and engage proactively with scientific societies. For their part, scientists and scientific societies have a civic responsibility to engage with the wider public to affirm that science is a crucial resource for developing evidence-based policy and regulations that are in the public interest.

Liminal Identity: Reconstruction of Syrian Identity in Trump's America

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-24
Author(s):  
May Mzayek
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Electoral College ◽  
The Political ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Identity Reconstruction

Abstract During November of 2016, the Electoral College elected Donald Trump as President of the United States of America. The following spring, I conducted research with Syrian refugees in Austin, Texas. Using liminality, or the space of uncertainty, I examined identity loss and change with Syrian refugees and within myself. As an immigrant from Syria, my identity was always an issue growing up in the United States, especially as my family struggled for years to attain citizenship. Trump's election evoked my past feelings of uncertainty regarding personhood. Understanding the political context and the challenges of resettlement, I conducted my thesis research in Austin, Texas, with Syrian refugees in order to examine changes in their identities. Their continued feelings of identity loss and change fortified their existence in a space I am very familiar with—liminality.

The Political Context of McCarthyism

1971 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Griffith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
United States Senate ◽  
The Political ◽  
Democratic Process

From 1950 to 1954 American politics were dominated as never before by one man, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, and by the phenomenon of “McCarthyism.” Yet many of the questions raised by those years of turmoil and controversy remain unanswered. What was the source and nature of the power that McCarthy wielded over the United States Senate? Why did the members of that body acquiesce, for nearly five years, in his continued abuse of the democratic process? Beyond this, were the McCarthy years aberrational? Did they represent some malfunction in our political machinery? Or were they the natural and inevitable by-product of that system itself?

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