North Carolina State University
Fall 2014
PS 314: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND PUBLIC POLICY
Mon. and Wed. 3:00-4:15
113 Ricks Hall
Dr. Robert J. Reardon
[email protected]
111 Winston Hall
Office Hours:
MW 4:15-6”00 or by appt.
ELIGIBILITY
This course is appropriate for all undergraduates, and would be useful to anyone
interested in the both the crafting of government policies to address issues related to
science and technology, and the role of science and technology on the policymaking
process.
COURSE OVERVIEW
Technological innovation and scientific discovery since World War II have led to
profound social, political, and economic change. This course explores some of the
opportunities and challenges these advances have created and the ways in which society
and government seek to limit their negative effects while maximizing gains and
promoting further innovation.
Specifically, it addresses the following questions:
1. How have scientific advances introduced new challenges to the international
system?
2. How can states and other global actors cooperate to address these challenges?
3. What opportunities do new technologies offer in solving international problems?
At the same time, the choices made by states and other global actors have affected both
the rate and direction of scientific progress. Therefore, we also ask the following:
1. How do state policies affect technological innovation?
2. How can states to promote technological and scientific advance?
3. How can states mitigate the negative spillover effects of technological innovation
and diffusion?
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The goal of this course is to provide students with the analytical tools to evaluate the
political implications of technological and scientific innovation, and to better evaluate
policy choices.
Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the following:
1. The political, economic, ethical, and security implications of technological
innovation and diffusion.
2. The strategies state use to address challenges or take advantage of opportunities,
including: domestic regulations, formal and informal international institutions,
market-based mechanisms, R&D subsidies, export controls, state secrecy, and
intellectual property regimes
3. The tradeoffs involved in promoting, regulating, or restricting innovation or the
diffusion of knowledge, and the interaction between the public and private
spheres
COURSE STRUCTURE
Although this is a lecture course, the lectures for this course are designed to engage
students and prompt discussion and questions.
POLICIES
Attendance
Class begins on time at 3:00pm. While attendance will not be taken, students are
expected to attend all lectures. Unexcused absences can be counted against your grade for
class participation.
Participation
Students are expected to participate in class discussions, and are strongly encouraged to
ask ANY questions about the course material either in the classroom or during scheduled
office hours. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A STUPID OR OBVIOUS QUESTION.
This course engages with a number of contentious and provocative ethical, social, and
political issues related to S&T policy. Inevitably there will be sharp disagreements
among members of the class. The goal of this course is to help students formulate their
own positions in these debates through informed, critical thinking, not to convince
students that one position or the other is the correct one. Civil and respectful debate is
strongly encouraged, and all members of the class will be free to discuss their positions
on the topics discussed and will be treated with respect, without exception. Critical
treatment of ideas and concepts are encouraged. Personal attacks and disrespectful
behavior will not be tolerated.
Credit-Only Grading
In order to receive a grade of S, students are required to take all exams and quizzes,
complete all assignments, and earn a grade of C- or better. Conversion from letter grading
to credit only (S/U) grading is subject to university deadlines. Refer to the Registration
and Records calendar for deadlines related to grading. For more details refer to
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-15
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Auditing
Information about and requirements for auditing a course can be found at
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-04.
Incompletes
If an extended deadline is not authorized by the instructor or department, an unfinished
incomplete grade will automatically change to an F after either (a) the end of the next
regular semester in which the student is enrolled (not including summer sessions), or (b)
the end of 12 months if the student is not enrolled, whichever is shorter. Incompletes that
change to F will count as an attempted course on transcripts. The burden of fulfilling an
incomplete grade is the responsibility of the student. The university policy on incomplete
grades is located at http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-50-3.
Academic Integrity and Honesty
Students are required to comply with the university policy on academic integrity found in
the Code of Student Conduct found at http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-11-35-01
See http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-11-35-01 for a detailed explanation of academic
honesty. You are strongly encouraged to consult the university’s online resources and
familiarize yourself with these policies.
Your signature on any test or assignment indicates "I have neither given nor received
unauthorized aid on this test or assignment."
Issues of academic integrity and honesty will be treated in this class with the utmost
seriousness. Under the honor system, students are granted a significant amount of trust. In
return, the expectations that that trust will be honored are high.
If you have any doubts, questions, or concerns about plagiarism, cheating, or any other
issues related to academic integrity and honesty, do not hestitate to ask the instructor,
relevant university administrators, or the NCSU Writing Office.
Accommodations for Disabilities
Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In
order to take advantage of available accommodations, student must register with the
Disability Services Office (http://www.ncsu.edu/dso), 919-515-7653. For more
information on NC State's policy on working with students with disabilities, please see
the Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Regulation at
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-01.
Non-Discrimination
NC State University provides equality of opportunity in education and employment for
all students and employees. Accordingly, NC State affirms its commitment to maintain a
work environment for all employees and an academic environment for all students that is
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free from all forms of discrimination. Discrimination based on race, color, religion, creed,
sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation is a violation of
state and federal law and/or NC State University policy and will not be tolerated.
Harassment of any person (either in the form of quid pro quo or creation of a hostile
environment) based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability,
veteran status, or sexual orientation also is a violation of state and federal law and/or NC
State University policy and will not be tolerated. Retaliation against any person who
complains about discrimination is also prohibited. NC State's policies and regulations
covering discrimination, harassment, and retaliation may be accessed at
http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-04-25-05 or http://www.ncsu.edu/equal_op/. Any
person who feels that he or she has been the subject of prohibited discrimination,
harassment, or retaliation should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity (OEO) at 919515-3148.
COURSE EVALUATIONS
I highly value feedback from my students and encourage all students to submit class
evaluations to help me improve this course. Students are requested to submit anonymous
midterm and end-of-term evaluations (the first is for the instructor’s use only).
Online class evaluations will be available for students to complete during the last 2 weeks
of the semester then become unavailable at 8am on the first day of finals for the full fall
semester:
12 noon November 20th, 2014 through 8 am December 8th, 2014
For the first eight week session of the fall semester evaluations will be available:
12 noon October 3rd, 2014 through 8 am October 13th, 2014
Finally the second eight week session of the fall semester evaluations will be available:
12 noon November 20th, 2014 through 8 am December 3rd, 2014
Students will receive an email message directing them to a website where they can login
using their Unity ID and complete evaluations. All evaluations are confidential;
instructors will not know how any one student responded to any question, and students
will not know the ratings for any instructors.
Evaluation website: http://go.ncsu.edu/cesurvey
Student help desk: [email protected]
More information about ClassEval: http://oirp.ncsu.edu/eval/clev
READINGS
Students are expected to have read all of the assigned reading prior to the lecture for
which they were assigned (there may be surprise quiz).
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Expect roughly 50-75 pages of reading per week (give or take). Readings will be divided
between the textbook (Viscusi, Economics of Regulation), additional readings on
theoretical concepts, and background materials on illustrative cases. Readings have been
chosen to be accessible to students with no prior background in the topic.
The required textbook is:
W. Kip Viscusi, Economics of Regulation and Antitrust (4th Edition, released 2005).
The textbook is available at the NCSU Bookstore as well as a number of online vendors.
All other readings will be made available online or by instructor.
GRADES
Grading will be based as follows:
15% class participation
20% midterm exam
30% final exam
25% paper (roughly 8 pages)
10% 2 short, in-class quizzes
Letter grades will be assigned according to standard NCSU grading policies.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
All students will be required to:
1. write a short (2-page), ungraded paper on any topic covered in the course
2. meet with the professor at least once to discuss strategies to improve writing,
based on your 2-page paper. This exercise is designed to help your writing and
identify often easily addressed problems BEFORE you begin to write the paper
for the graded assignment.
3. Write an (approx.) 8 page paper (to be explained in detail in class)
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SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
AUGUST 20TH
Introduction: What is S&T Policy?
No readings this week.
AUGUST 25TH AND AUGUST 27TH
Making S&T Policy: Market Failures and Government Failures
 Viscusi chs. 1 and 2
 Jeff Madrick, “Innovation: The Government Was Crucial After All,” NY Review
of Books, April 24, 2014.
Recommended additional readings:
 Mancur Olson, The Rise and Decline of Nations, ch. 2
 George J. Stigler, "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of
Economics and Management Science, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring 1971).
SEPTEMBER 3RD AND SEPTEMBER 8TH
Intellectual Property Rights
 Viscusi ch. 24
 Roderick T. Long, “The Libertarian Case Against Intellectual Property Rights,”
Formulations, Autumn 1995.
 Marcia Angell, “The Truth About the Drug Companies,” NY Review of Books,
July 15, 2004.
 Megan Krench, “New Supreme Court Decision Rules That cDNA Is Patentable,”
Scientific American, July 9, 2013.
 Colleen Chien, “Everything You Need to Know About Trolls (the Patent Kind),”
Wired, 2013.
SEPTEMBER 10TH, 15TH, AND 17TH
--FIRST QUIZ--Externalities: Energy and the Environment
 Viscusi chs. 19 and 21
 David Victor et al., “A Madisonian Approach to Climate” Science, 2005.
 Kenneth Oye & James Maxwell, “Self Interest and Environmental Management,”
Journal of Theoretical Politics, 1994
 Nuclear Energy Institute, Fukushima White Paper, October 2013
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SEPTEMBER 22ND AND SEPTEMBER 24th
---2-PAGE PAPER DUE 9/22--Health Externalities
 Viscusi chs. 22 and 23
 Laurie Garrett, “The Challenge of Global Health,” Foreign Affairs,
January/February 2007.
 Miriam Fine-Goulden, “Should Childhood Vaccination Be Compulsory in the
UK?” Opticon, 2010.
 WHO Report, Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance
(summary only)
SEPTEMBER 29TH AND OCTOBER 1ST
Security Externalities
 Jonathan Tucker, Innovation, Dual Use, and Security, ch.1
 Daryl G. Kimball and Joseph Cirincione, A Nonproliferation Disaster
(Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress, 11 December 2006)
 Matthew Bunn, “Strengthening Global Approaches to Nuclear Security,” ICNS
Conf. Paper, 2013.
 Ian Wallace, “The Military Role in National Cybersecurity Governance,” 2013.
OCTOBER 6TH
---MIDTERM EXAM--OCTOBER 8TH AND OCTOBER 13TH
Science in the Political Process
 Roger Pielke, Jr., The Honest Broker, 2007, ch.1.
 Sheila Jasanoff, “Speaking Honestly to Power” (review of Pielke), American
Scientist, 2008
 Lawrence McCray, "Doing Believable Knowledge Assessment for Policymaking:
How Six Prominent Organizations Go About It.” August 2003.
 Dorothy Nelkin, Selling Science, ch.1
OCTOBER 15TH AND 20TH
Dealing with Risk and Uncertainty
 Granger Morgan, “Risk Analysis and Management,” Scientific American, 1993.
 Harvey Sapolsky, “The Politics of Risk,” Daedalus, 1990.
 Lisa Heinzerling and Frank Ackerman, Pricing the Priceless: Cost-Benefit
Analysis of Environmental Protection, 2002.
 David Appell, “The New Uncertainty Principle,” Scientific American, 2001.
 Marcia Angell, Science on Trial, Preface and Introduction.
 Martin Rees, Our Final Hour, 2003, ch.6.
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OCTOBER 27TH AND OCTOBER 29TH
Information Problems
 George Ackerlof, “Market for Lemons,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1970.
 Steven Shavell, “On Moral Hazard and Insurance,” Quarterly Journal of
Economics, 1979.
 Amy Harmon, “Insurance Fears Lead Many to Shun DNA Tests,” NY Times, Feb.
2008.
 Adam Cohen, “The Government Can Use GPS to Track Your Moves,” Time,
2010.
 Steven Levy, “How the NSA Almost Killed the Internet,” Wired, 2013.
NOVEMBER 3RD AND NOVEMBER 5TH
---SECOND QUIZ 11/3--Policy Evaluation and Regulatory Adaptation
 David H. Guston and Daniel Sarewitz, “Real-Time Technology Assessment,”
Technology in Society, 2002.
 James Foster, “The Deadhand of Environmental Regulation”
 David Reinner, Getting from Here to Where?, ch. 1
 Larry McCray, Kenneth Oye, and Arthur Petersen, “Planned Adaptation in Risk
Regulation,” Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2010.
 Richard Feynman, “Personal Observations on the Reliability of the Shuttle,”
Rogers Commission report.
NOVEMBER 10TH AND NOVEMBER 12TH
---PAPER OUTLINES DUE 11/10--International Standard-Setting and Regulatory Harmonization
 Robert Mallet, “Why Standards Matter,” ISTP, 1998.
 Carl Shapiro, “Setting Compatibility Standards: Cooperation or Collusion?” 2000.
 Laura DeNardis, The Global War for Internet Governance, ch.3
 Bernauer, Oye, and Victor, “Regulatory Diversity: Can the World Trading System
Cope?” SZP, 2000.
 Berger and Dore, National Diversity and Global Capitalism, 1996.
NOVEMBER 17TH AND NOVEMBER 19TH
Innovation
 Lewis Branscomb, “False Dichotomy: Scientific Creativity and Utility,” Issues in
Science and Technology Policy, 1999.
 Vannevar Bush, “Science: The Endless Frontier,” Report to the President, 1945.
 EC Report, Emerging Science and Technology Priorities in Public Research
Policies in the EU, the U.S., and Japan, executive summary only
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

Norman Metzger, “Pork Barrel Science,” Issues in Science and Technology
Policy, 1999.
William Kingston, “Antibiotics, Invention, and Innovation,” Science Policy, 2000.
NOVEMBER 24TH AND DECEMBER 1ST
---FINAL PAPER DUE 12/1--Assessing Threats and Capabilities
 John Mueller Overblown, 2009, ch.1
 Kathleen Vogel, Phantom Menace, ch.1
 Robert Jervis, “Reports, Politics, and Intelligence Failures: The Case of Iraq,”
Journal of Strategic Studies, 2006.
 Seymour Hersch, “The Stovepipe,” New Yorker, 2003.
DECEMBER 3RD
---REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAM---
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