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"Follow the science"
A thread about science and policy. 1/N
A thread about science and policy. 1/N
Who am I to opine about this? I& #39;m a scientist (physics degree). I have a masters degree in science and technology policy. I am also a policy-maker who has spent long hours pouring over scientific risk assessments. 2/N
Summary: it isn& #39;t that simple. 3/N
Scientific advice to policymakers is rarely if ever of the form "Do X. It& #39;s a no-brainer." I have never received such scientific advice in more than 20 years of work as a policy-maker. 4/N
Rather, scientific advice is generally measured and balanced, highlighting scientific uncertainties and presenting costs and benefits, advantages and disadvantages of different options. 5/N
Moreover, scientific advice almost invariably (implicitly or explicitly) leaves room for value judgements, e.g. because different options have various distributional consequences that are not amenable to purely objective arbitration. 6/N
Scientific advice therefore does not and cannot DETERMINE policy choices, only inform them. It remains for policy makers and - ultimately in a democracy - for elected representatives to make policy choices. 7/N
To conclude, anyone attempting to exonerate politicians (in any country) of responsibility on the grounds that they"just followed the science" wither doesn& #39;t understand how scientific advice works or is engaging in political dirty tricks. 8/N
Stop it and hold politicians accountable forntheir decisions. Don& #39;t try to shift the responsibility nor the blame on scientific advisors. 9/9 [ENDS]
