Scientific Elites and the Making of US Policy for Climate Change Research, 1957-74

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of the role of scientific élites in mediating between science and politics, securing support for research and shaping the interests of the rank and file. We apply a `garbage can' model, which posits that science, policy and politics typically evolve in separate, unconnected streams, each with its own momentum. In this model, élites may act strategically as `policy entrepreneurs' to take advantage of occasional temporary opportunities, or `windows', to influence the policy and science streams. Our case study is of US policy toward research related to the Greenhouse Effect, from the International Geophysical Year in 1957 to the aftermath of the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment.1 We trace the evolution of two research programmes - carbon-cycle research and atmospheric modelling. The major political strategies followed by the relevant élites connected with these programmes were concerned with the pursuit of professional autonomy, with weather modification and with environmentalism. Changes in élite strategy followed mainly from events outside science, in the policy and politics `streams', rather than from scientific findings.