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Technical Expertise and Public Decisions

Expert advice has immense value for resolving complex problems, yet we who live in liberal democracies equally value broad participation in making public decisions. There is a direct tension between these values that grows as we strive to systematize and increase the efficacy of public decision making. The result is that experts often feel misunderstood, consumers and voters seem ill-informed and distrustful, and decision makers seem to demand unrealistically definitive advice on challenging problems. Few are happy with the current roles for experts, and this affects every engineer, scientist, manager, policymaker, and citizen. The articles in this special issue grew out of presentations on the expertise theme made in June 1996 at the 7th International Symposium on Technology and Society, sponsored by the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology and Princeton University. [Don’t miss the 8th symposium taking place in Scotland this June.] In recent years, we have seen much polarization and little integration in the debate over the appropriate public roles for experts and scientific knowledge. Therefore, this special issue is consciously inclusive, with representation from a variety of professional and political perspectives. The offerings explore the following general questions: When does the public know best, and when does it not? Who benefits from expertise, and is that allocation fair? Who provides advice, and under what circumstances? How can public decision makers keep pace with rapidly evolving science and technology? Revealing ironies surround this topic. I will mention three examples that clarify why it is important to rethink the roles of experts.