"Scientific and technological policy issues are not and should not be exempt from the norms of democratic governance. This article examines two major theories of democracy, analyzes their commonalities and differences, and derives criteria for evaluating various forms of public participation in policymaking. The author argues for a new category of participation, participatory analysis, that includes forms of participation that satisfy democratic criteria and emphasizes the importance of learning among participants. Different types of participatory analysis may be best suited to different kinds of policy problems."
Frank N. Laird, "1993. Laird. "Participatory Analysis, Democracy, and Technological Decision Making"", contributed by Maggie Woodruff, STS Infrastructures, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 29 May 2018, accessed 24 April 2024. https://stsinfrastructures.org/content/1993-laird-participatory-analysis-democracy-and-technological-decision-making
Critical Commentary
This 1993 article by Frank N. Laird examines the relationship between types of democracy, public participation, and scientific and technological policy issues.