Article ID: CBB423909656

Increasing Engagement in Regulatory Science: Reflections from the Field of Risk Assessment (July 2021)

unapi

While the demands for greater engagement in science in general and regulatory science in particular have been steadily increasing, we still face limited understanding of the empirical resonance of these demands. Against this context, this paper presents findings from a recent study of a potential participatory opening of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (“Bundesinstitut für Riskobewertung” [BfR]), a prominent regulatory scientific organization in the field of risk governance. Drawing upon quantitative surveys of the public and selected professional experts as well as in-depth qualitative expert interviews, we identify a general support for greater engagement in science-based risk assessment. However, we also find significant contestation concerning its potential enactment and its normative and strategic merit. Underlying these contestations, we identify the persistence of a normal view of science and decisionist understanding of risk assessment, which create conflicting legitimacy demands for BfR and other regulatory scientific organizations. Together with concerns about imbalances in the power to participate, especially in highly specialized engagement processes, these pose significant challenges for the institutionalization of more participatory practices.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB423909656/

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Authors & Contributors
Colleen Lanier-Christensen
Ho, Shirley S.
Barnett, Allain J.
Amelang, Katrin
Valentin Thomas
Cummings, Christopher L.
Concepts
Technoscience; science and technology studies
Governance
Regulation
Power (social sciences)
Participation
Risk assessment
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
Modern
Places
India
United States
Japan
Germany
Europe
Canada
Institutions
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
European Commission
United States. Food and Drug Administration
United States. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)
United States. Environmental Protection Agency
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