Science, Technology and Government in the United States: Toward the Year 2000

摘要

In the closing years of the 20th century, and at the end of nearly four decades of what has been called the Cold War, every sector of an increasingly global society is changing rapidly, including government and its relationship with science and technology. The roles of science and technology and government in the United States are clearly caught in the larger political debates of the times — as has been the case for over 200 years. Currently, these debates concern the extent and nature of changes desired by the American electorate and the directions government should take in meeting the challenges before us. The levels and types of investments in science and technology, and how these investments will be related to national goals now and in the future, will depend on the outcomes of these larger debates. One political viewpoint — represented by a conservative-leaning Republican Congress — presents a vision of substantially less government in which many functions and services put into place over the past sixty years would be abandoned or returned to the states in modified, downsized forms. Yet other Congressional efforts are more characteristic of the Cold War years: efforts to scrap arms reduction treaties, restart the "Star Wars" program, and add new weapons unrelated to any plausibly expected threats, while at the same time curtailing measures to assist the Russians and others in dismantling their nuclear arsenals. While the governmental role in supporting fundamental science purportedly would be maintained, responsibilities for technological development would be largely confined to specific agency missions such as defense and space.