How the Political Economy of Knowledge Production Shapes Education Policy: The Case of Teacher Evaluation in Federal Policy Discourse

Using congressional testimony on teacher quality from 2003 to 2015 and analysis of 60 elite interviews, we show how the political economy of knowledge production influences idea uptake in education policy discourse. We develop and assess a conceptual framework showing the organizational and financial infrastructure that links research, ideas, and advocacy in politics. We find that congressional hearing witnesses representing groups that received philanthropic grants are more likely to support teacher evaluation policies, but specific mentions of research in testimony are not a factor. Overall, our study shows that funders and advocacy groups emphasized rapid uptake of ideas to reform teacher evaluation, which effectively influenced policymakers but limited the use of research in teacher evaluation policy discourse.

The Sinai II Agreements of 1975

The fifth and final chapter examines the controversial and secret executive agreements connected to Sinai II, concluded in September 1975, in the context of a congressional effort to restrict the broad use of such agreements. The agreements committed the United States to providing for Israel’s military and economic security and pledged to not advance any steps in the peace process without Israel’s approval. Numerous legislators argued that the agreements marked a fundamental and questionable shift in U.S.-Israel relations and that they resembled treaties, which required Senate approval. Based on research from the Congressional Record, Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and congressional hearing reports, the chapter shows that legislators felt handcuffed. They felt obligated to pass a resolution to allow for U.S. technicians to man an early-warning station in the Sinai Peninsula in order to preserve the agreement between Israel and Egypt. But by passing the resolution, Congress also authorized, by what Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) called “backdoor” approval, the executive agreements that committed the United States to providing for the future economic, military, and energy needs of Israel, regardless of Israel’s willingness to adhere to the spirit of U.N. Resolution 242.

US congressional hearing keeps pressure on ‘big tech’

Headline UNITED STATES: Hearing keeps pressure on ‘big tech’

Doing ‘being interrupted’ in political talk

This article examines the questioning of US Attorney General Jeff Sessions by Senators Angus King and Kamala Harris during a congressional hearing. Analyses of the two exchanges, grounded in conversation analytic (CA) methodology, reveal that simultaneous and near-simultaneous talk initiated by the senators is pervasive in both exchanges. However, Sessions does ‘being interrupted’ (Hutchby 1996; Bilmes 1997)—that is, displays an orientation toward his interlocutors’ turns as a violation of his speaking rights—three times more often when he is questioned by Harris rather than King. The discrepancy in Sessions’ handling of the senators’ turns may explain why Harris is sanctioned by two colleagues during her questioning and why commentators have characterized her as aggressive and interruptive, while at the same time lauding (or ignoring) King. These findings ultimately suggest that doing being interrupted may influence how others perceive an interaction and those participating in it. (Institutional discourse, interruption, latching, overlap, political discourse)

Putting Patients First in Organ Allocation

This chapter originated in the author’s testimony before a congressional hearing on organ allocation policy. The ethical issues it addresses remain in play, as evidenced in the 2018–2019 debates about liver allocation policy. This chapter defends the fundamental conviction of the report of the Task Force on Organ Transplantation: Donated organs should be viewed as scarce public resources to be used for the welfare of the community. Organ procurement and transplant teams receive donated organs as “trustees” and “stewards” on behalf of the whole community, that is, the national community (with qualifications). Donated organs should be allocated to patients anywhere in the country according to ethically acceptable standards and logistical constraints, thus reducing the relevance of “accidents of geography” except where these are clearly important for transplantation outcomes. In short, patients, not transplant programs, should be put first. In accord with principles of justice and fairness, it is important to specify and balance, through a public process with public input, several criteria in policies of organ allocation: patient need and probability of successful outcome, along with time on the waiting list. Unless the criteria for patient selection are fair and are perceived to be fair, public distrust may hamper organ donation and perpetuate the scarcity of organs for transplantation.

China Challenges U.S. Science Dominance

A recent Congressional hearing and National Science Board report show that U.S. leadership faces growing global competition.

How to translate artificial intelligence? Myths and justifications in public discourse

Automated technologies populating today’s online world rely on social expectations about how “smart” they appear to be. Algorithmic processing, as well as bias and missteps in the course of their development, all come to shape a cultural realm that in turn determines what they come to be about. It is our contention that a robust analytical frame could be derived from culturally driven Science and Technology Studies while focusing on Callon’s concept of translation. Excitement and apprehensions must find a specific language to move past a state of latency. Translations are thus contextual and highly performative, transforming justifications into legitimate claims, translators into discursive entrepreneurs, and power relations into new forms of governance and governmentality. In this piece, we discuss three cases in which artificial intelligence was deciphered to the public: (i) the Montreal Declaration for a Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence, held as a prime example of how stakeholders manage to establish the terms of the debate on ethical artificial intelligence while avoiding substantive commitment; (ii) Mark Zuckerberg’s 2018 congressional hearing, where he construed machine learning as the solution to the many problems the platform might encounter; and (iii) the normative renegotiations surrounding the gradual introduction of “killer robots” in military engagements. Of interest are not only the rational arguments put forward, but also the rhetorical maneuvers deployed. Through the examination of the ramifications of these translations, we intend to show how they are constructed in face of and in relation to forms of criticisms, thus revealing the highly cybernetic deployment of artificial intelligence technologies.

Briefing Congress

Set at the September 4, 1991, congressional hearing at the Rayburn Office Building, Washington, D.C., the chapter uses Lieutenant General John Shalikashvili’s testimony to a House Armed Services Committee defense panel on military operations other than war (MOOTW) to thumbnail how Operation Provide Comfort was successfully concluded. It also describes how the success of the mission led to Shalikashvili’s current position as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell. It also flashes back to Shalikashvili’s tour as a major in the Vietnam War, when he served as a senior district advisor for Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). In that posting he was heavily involved in pacification efforts (increasing rice production, building roads, constructing hospitals, etc.) as well Operation Fisher, another significant refugee resettlement program. Shalikashvili’s Vietnam experience would be a major developmental step leading him to being more open to the use of force than Colin Powell.

Computer Memoirs of Ray Lauzzana

This article traces the author’s work with computers from his earliest experiences in the 1960s through the mid-1980s when personal computers and the Internet changed everything. The author’s earliest work with computing involved developing a “critical path” system along the lines outlined by Buckminster Fuller. He continued mixing art and mathematics throughout his career, engaging psychophysics and synesthesia. By the 1980s, the author turned to publishing about computer graphics; in the mid-1980s, he homebrewed a “listserver” to distribute one of the first electronic publications—fineArt forum (fAf). In 1981, he was invited by Al Gore to develop an exhibition of computer artists at the Library of Congress for the Congressional Hearing on the Internet—the legislation passed, and computing has never been the same.

Congressional Hearing Considers Paths Forward on Climate Change

Democrats and Republicans on the House Science Committee sparred about the best ways to deal with climate change but mostly acknowledged the threat.