Science and Technology for What?

In 1939 American scholar Robert S. Lynd first published his classic book Knowledge for What? ( Lynd, 1948 ). It provided statements on the requirement for social science knowledge to serve policymaking. This paper addresses the requirement for science and technology education policy to undergo changes dictated by the 21st‐century environment. It also identifies the inseparable links between political governance and educational policymaking. Views of 50 global professionals were solicited for their answers to the fundamental question: Science and technology for what? Experience of the respondents was in science, technology, education, religion, defense, engineering, space, business, and government. This paper classifies and summarizes those responses, then provides the author's analysis and conclusion that humanity has reached the point in history where its long‐term future is doubtful if both policymaking and education fail to formally conclude that the answer to the question, Science and technology for what? . . . is determined to be: Global humanity. The paper, therefore, is more concerned with the strategic answers to the meta question of Science and technology for what? than the precise answers for individual science disciplines. The paper data‐reduces focus group responses into 18 categories ( Figure 1 ), and provides only illustrative discrete uses of what education for science and technology within those categories should do. The reader will grasp the complexities of moving from strategic decisions to changes within the disciplines of science and the applications of technology.

Figure 1 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint . What 50 Professionals Think about “Science & Technology for What?”: Challenges for Education Policy     

What Is It About Politicians?

Why do people dislike politicians and could anything be done about it? Drawing upon survey evidence, it is argued that the twin charge against politicians is that they are engaged in a kind of game and that they are a political class out of touch with real life. These charges are examined and found to have at least some merit. Remedies would involve a change in political behaviour; and measures to widen political recruitment. The consequences of not making such changes will be a further erosion of political trust. Constitutional change is less important in tackling dislike of politicians than alterations in political behaviour.     

What Makes an Agency Independent?

The responsiveness of government agencies to elected officials is a central question in democratic governance. A key source of variation in responsiveness is agency structure. Yet scholars often view agencies as falling into broad structural categories (e.g., cabinet departments or independent commissions) or fixate on some features of design (e.g., “for cause” protections). I develop new estimates of structural independence based on new data on 50 different structural features of 321 federal agencies in the federal executive establishment. Using a Bayesian latent variable model, I estimate independence on two dimensions: limits on the appointment of key agency decision makers and limits on political review of agency policy. I illustrate the value of this new measure by using it to examine how structure affects political influence and how agency independence can vary over time.     

What Future for the Ombudsman?

The ombudsman institution, in both the public and private sectors, is increasingly identified with the ethos of consumerism and the protection of consumer rights. The current trend is exemplified and reinforced by the EU ADR Directive and by the government response to a recent inquiry into complaints conducted by the Public Administration Select Committee. This article argues that the dominant consumerist ethos diminishes the ability of the ombudsman institution to fulfil its potential. If the ombudsman institution, in particular as manifest in the office of the UK Parliamentary Ombudsman, is to serve the public interest, it must instead promote human rights principles and constitutional morality, adopt a process that is marked by public reasoning and participation and seek by a whole‐system approach to realise a vision that is integrated and truly democratic.     

What Do Corporations Owe Citizens?

Institutional investors occupy an important location in the corporate governance system in countries with high shareholding, such as the US. As these are also countries where pensions are heavily invested in equities, the pension and corporate governance systems intersect, though they are usually analyzed separately. Institutional investors could play a more active role in corporate governance, but many if not most have not done so. Public pension funds are more proactive on corporate governance transparency issues than are the privately held funds, in part because the latter have some conflict of interest between those who own the parent firm and those who invest in the funds. Overall, institutional investors in the US have fewer powers over the managers than do the UK counterparts. Debates over SEC Rule 14a-8 which would give more power to IIs reflects the views and influence of competing lobbies on each side of the battleground among shareholders, managers, and employees over the cash flow of the firm, a battleground in which pension funds are increasingly important players.

What Is Patronage? A Critical Reexamination

Despite a long and storied history, patronage and the functions it plays in American politics and public administration are still very much a mystery. This paper examines how patronage has been used and understood in American political science and public administration. The author calls for a reexamination of the concept based on developments found in the field of anthropology. In an effort to generate future scholarship, the author introduces a typology of patronage styles based on this reexamination.     

What is wrong with job security?

Most Western studies into motivation suggest that public servants are prosocial. Moreover, scholars suggest that a desire for external rewards, like pay and job security, may crowd out prosocial proclivity. However, recent studies from non‐Western contexts provide mixed results about the actual drivers of public servants' motivation to seek and retain public sector employment and perform their duties. To advance the development of theory regarding motivational dynamics of public servants in developing countries, we examine how pursuing external rewards impacts public service motivation, job satisfaction, and turnover intention among public servants in Kazakhstan (n = 627), a developing former Soviet republic that has been subjected to various waves of personnel reform. Our quantitative and qualitative data show that a desire for job security relates positively to public service motivation and job satisfaction, whereas a desire for monetary rewards correlates negatively with public service motivation and positively with turnover intention. We conclude with the implications for theory and practice.     

What is regulation? An interdisciplinary concept analysis

The concept of regulation is believed to suffer from a lack of shared understanding. Yet the maturation of the field raises the question whether this conclusion is still valid. By taking a new methodological approach toward this question of conceptual consolidation, this study assesses how regulation is conceived in the most cited articles in six social science disciplines. Four main conclusions are drawn. First, there is a remarkable absence of explicit definitions. Second, the scope of the concept is vast, which requires us to talk about regulation in rather abstract terms. Third, scholars largely agree that “prototype regulation” is characterized by interventions that are intentional and direct – involving binding standard‐setting, monitoring, and sanctioning – and exercised by public‐sector actors on the economic activities of private‐sector actors. Fourth, while there is considerable variation in research concerns, this variation cannot be attributed to disciplinary differences. Instead, our findings support the portrayal of the field as interdisciplinary, including a shared conception of regulation.     

What Role for Human Rights in Business?

The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) were endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2011, following the six‐year mandate of the Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The SRSG developed a framework comprised of three pillars: (1) States have a duty to protect against human rights abuses committed by third parties, including business enterprises; (2) business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights; and (3) victims of business‐related human rights abuses need access to effective remedies. In particular, guiding principle (GP) 11 provides that business enterprises should respect human rights, that is, they should avoid infringing on the human rights of others and address adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved. This article considers the implications of the Guiding Principles' framework for business; the continuing role of conventional accountability mechanisms in providing access to remedy for victims under the third pillar of the framework; and developments in ‘hard law', with a particular focus on the approach by the UK, since the introduction of the UNGPs, before turning, briefly, to the future for business and human rights.     

Review essay: What of tomorrow's stranger?

From Aliens to Citizens: Redefining the Status of Immigrants in Europe. Rainer Bauböck (Ed.), 1994, Aldershot/Brookfield, Avebury, 233 pp., pbk. ISBN 1 85972 059 5

The Challenge of Diversity: Integration and Pluralism in Societies of Immigration Rainer Bauböck, Agnes Heller, Aristide R. Zolberg (Eds), 1996, Aldershot/Brookfield, Avebury, 279 pp., pbk. ISBN 1 85972 401 9     

What’s So Funny About That?

This paper argues that it is impossible to know why we laugh. There are a number of theories that attempt to explain why we laugh but they all have limitations. It is possible, however, to know what makes us laugh and 45 techniques that inform humor are listed and used to analyze a number of humorous texts. These techniques can also be used to study the humor of different nations to determine which they favor and which they neglect, thus offering insights into national character.