Increasing Engagement in Regulatory Science

Reflections from the Field of Risk Assessment

Bibliographic Data

ID5337002
AuthorsLeonie Dendler (0000-0003-4442-5273, Department Risk Communication, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany, corresponding author), Gaby-Fleur Böl (Department Risk Communication, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany), Gaby‐Fleur Böl (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment)
Year2021
Volume46
Issue4
Pages719-754
Publication date2021-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0162243920944499
OpenAlexW3048130121
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited51

While the demands for greater engagement in science in general and regulatory science in particular have been steadily increasing, we still face limited understanding of the empirical resonance of these demands. Against this context, this paper presents findings from a recent study of a potential participatory opening of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment ("Bundesinstitut für Riskobewertung" [BfR]), a prominent regulatory scientific organization in the field of risk governance. Drawing upon quantitative surveys of the public and selected professional experts as well as in-depth qualitative expert interviews, we identify a general support for greater engagement in science-based risk assessment. However, we also find significant contestation concerning its potential enactment and its normative and strategic merit. Underlying these contestations, we identify the persistence of a normal view of science and decisionist understanding of risk assessment, which create conflicting legitimacy demands for BfR and other regulatory scientific organizations. Together with concerns about imbalances in the power to participate, especially in highly specialized engagement processes, these pose significant challenges for the institutionalization of more participatory practices

Business · Citizen journalism · Corporate governance · Engineering ethics · Institutionalisation · Legitimacy · Management · Normative · Political science · Politics · Public engagement · Public relations · Risk assessment · Risk Governance · Sociology · Engineering · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Regulation and Compliance Studies