Drawing on his experience as both a research scientist and an expert advisor at the centre of government, Ian Boyd takes an empirical approach to examining the current state of the relationship between science and politics. He argues that the way politicians and scientists work together today results in a science that is on tap for ideological (mis)use, and governance that fails to serve humanity’s most fundamental needs. Justice is unlikely - perhaps impossible - while science is not a fully integrated part of the systems for collective decision-making across society.
In Science in Politics, Boyd presents an impassioned argument for a series of conceptual and structural innovations that could resolve this fundamental tension, revealing how a radical intermingling of these (apparently contradictory) professions might provide the world with better politics and better science.
Table of Contents
Introduction - The Scientific Predicament
Part 1: A Troubled Marriage
1. Beyond two cultures
2. The anatomy of a troubled marriage
3. Inside the politics factory
4. Rationalising the politics factory
5. Gateways to the politics factory
6. Shoring up the marriage
Part 2: The Corruption of Science
7. The subjective by-pass
8. Products of the politics factory - Evidence: quod erat demonstrandum
9. ‘What works’ in the factory?
10. Following the crowd
11. Trust in experts
12. Redefining quality
Part 3: Taming the Beast
13. Playing the paradigm game
14. Taming wickedness
15. Adaptive policy testing: Making policy into science
16. More than just widgets
17. Fixing the marriage
