Science policy of the United States
Encyclopedia
Agencies involved in science policy
Science policy in the United States is the responsibility of many organizations throughout the federal governmentFederal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. Much of the large-scale policy is made through the legislative budget process
United States budget process
The process of creating the budget for the United States government is known as the budget process. The framework used by Congress to formulate the budget was established by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, and by other budget...
of enacting the yearly federal budget
United States federal budget
The Budget of the United States Government is the President's proposal to the U.S. Congress which recommends funding levels for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1. Congressional decisions are governed by rules and legislation regarding the federal budget process...
, although there are other legislative issues that directly involve science, such as energy policy
Energy policy of the United States
The energy policy of the United States is determined by federal, state and local public entities in the United States, which address issues of energy production, distribution, and consumption, such as building codes and gas mileage standards...
, climate change
Politics of global warming (United States)
The politics of global warming is played out at a state and federal level in the United States.-Federal policy:-International law:The United States, although a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the protocol...
, and stem cell research
Stem cell laws and policy in the United States
Stem cell laws and policy in the United States have had a complicated legal and political history.-Science background:Stem cells are cells found in all multi-cellular organisms. They were isolated in mice in 1981, and in humans in 1988. In humans there are many types of stem cells, each with...
. Further decisions are made by the various federal agencies which spend the funds allocated by Congress, either on in-house research or by granting funds to outside organizations and researchers.
Legislating science policy
In the Executive Office of the President, the main body advising the presidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
on science policy is the Office of Science and Technology Policy
Office of Science and Technology Policy
The Office of Science and Technology Policy is an office in the Executive Office of the President , established by Congress on May 11, 1976, with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.The director of this office is...
. Other advisory bodies exist within the Executive Office of the President, including the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Science and Technology Council
National Science and Technology Council
The National Science and Technology Council was established in the US by Executive Order 12881 on November 23, 1993.-History:The National Science and Technology Council was established in the US by Executive Order on November 23, 1993...
.
In the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, a number of congressional committees
United States Congressional committee
A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty . Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction...
have jurisdiction over legislation on science policy, most notably the House Committee on Science and Technology and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate in charge of all senate matters related to the following subjects:* Coast Guard* Coastal zone management* Communications...
, and their subcommittees. These committee oversee the various federal research agencies that are involved in receiving funding for scientific research. Oversight of some agencies may fall under multiple committees, for example the Environmental Protection Agency.
There are also Congressional support agencies, which do not solely focus on science, but provide insight for Congress to make decisions dealing with scientific issues. These agencies are nonpartisan and provide objective reports on topics requested by members of congress. They are the Congressional Research Service
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...
, Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
, and Congressional Budget Office
Congressional Budget Office
The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....
. In the past, the Office of Technology Assessment
Office of Technology Assessment
The Office of Technology Assessment was an office of the United States Congress from 1972 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide Congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century, i.e. technology...
provided Congressional members and committees with objective analysis of scientific and technical issues, but this office was abolished as a result of the Republican Revolution
Republican Revolution
The Republican Revolution or Revolution of '94 is what the media dubbed Republican Party success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a pickup of eight seats in the Senate...
of 1994.
Further advice is provided by extragovernmental organizations such as The National Academies
United States National Academies
The United States National Academies comprises four organizations:* National Academy of Sciences * National Academy of Engineering * Institute of Medicine * National Research Council...
, which was created and mosly funded by the federal government, and the RAND Corporation, as well as other non-profit organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
and the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
among others.
Executing science policy
There are a number of federal agencies across the government which carry out science policy. Some of these primarily perform their own research, such as:- The National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
(NASA) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationNational Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
(NOAA) - The National Institute of Standards and TechnologyNational Institute of Standards and TechnologyThe National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
(NIST) - The "intramural" parts of the National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of HealthThe National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
(NIH) - The United States Geological SurveyUnited States Geological SurveyThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
(USGS) - The DHS Directorate for Science and Technology (S&T)
- The Veterans Health Administration Office of Research and DevelopmentVeterans Health Administration Office of Research and DevelopmentThe Veterans Health Administration Office of Research and Development is the research and development agency of the Veterans Health Administration in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs...
(ORD) - The Agricultural Research ServiceAgricultural Research ServiceThe Agricultural Research Service is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture . ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area...
(ARS) - The Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
- The Naval Research LaboratoryUnited States Naval Research LaboratoryThe United States Naval Research Laboratory is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps and conducts a program of scientific research and development. NRL opened in 1923 at the instigation of Thomas Edison...
(NRL) - Most of the Air Force Research LaboratoryAir Force Research LaboratoryThe Air Force Research Laboratory is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable aerospace warfighting technologies; planning and executing the Air Force science and...
(AFRL)
In addition, the federally funded research and development centers, which include most of the U.S. National Laboratories
United States Department of Energy National Laboratories
The United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Technology Centers are a system of facilities and laboratories overseen by the United States Department of Energy for the purpose of advancing science and helping promote the economic and defensive national interests of the United...
, are funded by the government but operated by universities, non-profit organizations, or for-profit consortia.
Finally, many government agencies exist to grant funds to external organizations or individual researchers. These include:
- The National Science FoundationNational Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
(NSF) - The "extramural" part of the National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of HealthThe National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
(NIH) - The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- The Department of Energy's Office of ScienceOffice of ScienceThe Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy . The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences...
and Advanced Research Projects Agency-EnergyARPA-EARPA-E, or Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy is a United States government agency to promote and fund research and development of advanced energy technologies...
(ARPA-E) - The Office of Naval ResearchOffice of Naval ResearchThe Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
(ONR) - The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
- The National Institute of Food and AgricultureNational Institute of Food and AgricultureThe National Institute of Food and Agriculture is a U.S. Federal government body whose creation was mandated in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. It is intended to consolidate all federally-funded agricultural research, and will be subordinate to the Department of Agriculture...
(NIFA)
There are also a number of state and local agencies which deal with state-specific science policy and provide additional funding, such as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created by California's Proposition 71 , which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world's largest single backer of...
.
Science and technology in the budget
Research and developmentResearch and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
in the United States federal budget
United States federal budget
The Budget of the United States Government is the President's proposal to the U.S. Congress which recommends funding levels for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1. Congressional decisions are governed by rules and legislation regarding the federal budget process...
is not centrally enacted, but is spread across many appropriations bills which are enacted in the annual United States budget process
United States budget process
The process of creating the budget for the United States government is known as the budget process. The framework used by Congress to formulate the budget was established by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, and by other budget...
, and spread across many federal departments
United States Federal Executive Departments
The United States federal executive departments are among the oldest primary units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States—the Departments of State, War, and the Treasury all being established within a few weeks of each other in 1789.Federal executive...
.
With respect to the U.S. Federal Budget, scientists working in the United States are concerned with the amount and distribution of funding for research and development (R&D), which has a portion in both the defense and nondefense budgets. However, only a small percentage of the overall federal budget is allocated to R&D. Just over half of the R&D budget is mostly allocated to defense spending. Other Agencies that are allocated funding out of the R&D budget include the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). There are many avenues in which scientific research is carried out: national labs, universities, research institutes and industry.
Government funding for research into defense-related technological research has historically been significant. Some of this takes place in public research institutions such as DARPA, whilst much else is carried out by major defense contractor
Defense contractor
A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...
s in expectation of being able to sell the results to the government (so is funded privately, but on the basis of implicit or explicit agreement of costs being recouped from the government).
More detailed information about the federal research and development budget, including more detailed funding amounts, is available as part of the summary document Science, Technology, STEM Education, and 21st Century Infrastructure in the 2012 Budget from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Current funding debate
There was considerable debate on funding levels for science research by the federal government in the 2011 budget2011 United States federal budget
The 2011 United States federal budget is the United States federal budget to fund government operations for the fiscal year 2011, which is October 2010–September 2011. The budget is the subject of a spending request by President Barack Obama...
. The Obama administration's policy has been to support increases in research funding levels, including doubling the budgets of the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
(NSF), Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE SC), and National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
(NIST) from their 2006 levels by 2017, and President Obama strongly featured innovation as a means for revitalizing the United States economy in his 2011 State of the Union Address
2011 State of the Union Address
The 2011 State of the Union Address was a speech given by President Barack Obama at 9 p.m. EST on January 25, 2011, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives...
. The Obama administration's fiscal year 2011 budget request included increases of $956 million for the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
(NIH), $479 million for the NSF, $172 million for DOE SC, and $126 million for NIST. They have thus proposed deep cuts to science research budgets, including cuts in fiscal year 2011 of $1.6 billion from the NIH, $400 million from the NSF, and $900 million from DOE SC.
The deal reached on the 2011 budget in early April 2011 resulted in modest cuts to science programs, much less than the earlier proposals by House Republicans. NIH funding was cut by about $310 million, the NSF by about $68 million, and DOE SC by $35 million.
Intellectual property policy
Inventions "conceived or actually reduced to practice" in the performance of government-funded research may be subject to the Bayh-Dole ActBayh-Dole Act
The Bayh–Dole Act or Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act is United States legislation dealing with intellectual property arising from federal government-funded research. Adopted in 1980, Bayh-Dole is codified in -212, and implemented by 37 C.F.R. 401. Among other things, it gave U.S...
.
Science in political discourse
Most of the leading political issues in the United States have a scientific component. For example, renewable energyRenewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
, Stem Cell Research, climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, and national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
. Despite the growing integration of science in policy there are only a handful of Congressional members and their staff who have sufficient background in science; therefore they refer to various congressional support agencies for analysis on science related issues. Important for thinking about science in political discourse is that congressional members weigh many factors when addressing an issue, not just the scientific merit of an issue.
History
The first President's Science and Technology Advisor was James R. Killian, appointed in 1958 by President Eisenhower after Sputnik created the urgency for the government to support science and education. President Eisenhower realized then that if Americans were going to continue to be the world leader in scientific, technological and military advances, the government would need to provide support. After World War II, the US government began to formally provide support for scientific research and to establish the general structure by which science is conducted in the US. The foundation for modern American science policy was laid way out in Vannevar Bush's Science - the Endless Frontier, submitted to President Truman in 1945. Vannevar Bush was President Roosevelt's science advisor and became one of the most influential science advisors as in his essay, he pioneered how we decide on science policy today. He made recommendations to improve the following three areas: national security, health and the economy. The same three focuses we have today.Creation of the NSF
The creation of the National Science Foundation, although in 1950, was a controversial issue that started as early as 1942, between engineer and science administrator Vannevar BushVannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush was an American engineer and science administrator known for his work on analog computing, his political role in the development of the atomic bomb as a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project, the founding of Raytheon, and the idea of the memex, an adjustable microfilm viewer...
and Senator Harley M. Kilgore (D-WV), who was interested in the organization of military research. Senator Kilgore presented a series of bills between 1942-1945 to Congress, the one that most resembles the establishment of the NSF, by name, was in 1944, outlining an independent agency whose main focus was to promote peacetime basic and applied research as well as scientific training and education. Some specifics outlined were that the director would be appointed and the board would be composed of scientists, technical experts and members of the public. The government would take ownership of intellectual property developed with federal funding and funding would be distributed based on geographical location, not merit. Although, both Bush and Kilgore were in favor of government support of science, they disagreed philosophically on the details of how that support would be carried out. In particular, Bush sided with the board being composed of just scientists with no public insight. When Congress signed the legislation that created the NSF, many of Bush's ideals were removed. It illustrates that these questions about patent rights, social science expectations, the distribution of federal funding (geographical or merit), and who (scientists or policymakers) get to be the administrators are interesting questions that science policy grapples with.
Future of science policy
Congress is realizing that the current national policy is not as concise and easy to determine priorities for funding scientific research. The goal is to be able to include government and all the institutions involved in research to be a part of the conversations concerning science, technology and engineering. As of right now, the criticism is that there is not a "science policy" but rather a "budget policy", stifling the ability for the nation to move forward in the field of science. Congress is looking to the scientific community to participate and to submit their thoughts on the rising challenges for the community, nation and planet so to address these needs in scientific policy.The Federal Research Public Access Act
Federal Research Public Access Act
The Federal Research Public Access Act , originally proposed by Senators John Cornyn and Joe Lieberman in 2006 and then again in 2010, is a proposal to require open public access to research funded by eleven U.S...
(111th congress S.1373, introduced 25 June 2009 but still in a Senate committee) would require "free online public access to such final peer-reviewed manuscripts or published versions as soon as practicable, but not later than 6 months after publication in peer-reviewed journals".
See also
- Science and technology in the United StatesScience and technology in the United StatesThe United States came into being around the Age of Enlightenment , a period in which writers and thinkers rejected the superstitions of the past. Instead, they emphasized the powers of reason and unbiased inquiry, especially inquiry into the workings of the natural world...
- Technological and industrial history of the United States
- Science policyScience policyScience policy is an area of public policy concerned with the policies that affect the conduct of the science and research enterprise, including the funding of science, often in pursuance of other national policy goals such as technological innovation to promote commercial product development,...
- NASA BudgetNASA BudgetEach year, the United States Congress passes a Federal Budget detailing where federal tax money will be spent in the coming fiscal year.The following charts detail the amount of federal funding allotted to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration each year over its past fifty year history...