NER: Nanotechnology and Science Federalism

该提案是响应纳米尺度科学与工程计划，NSF 05-610， NER类别而收到的。本项目研究纳米尺度科学与工程（NSE）政策制定，以提高对科学政策领域政府间关系的理解。在过去的十年里，联邦政府和州政府在科学技术上的大部分支出都集中在NSE上。因此，NSE政策制定提供了一个机会，可以检查和改进对科学联邦制失败的理解，并确定战略和机会，以鼓励现在在大多数其他政策制定领域盛行的更具协作性的方法。美国的政府间关系在20世纪经历了三个不同的阶段：中央联邦制，以国家政府的主导地位为特征；20世纪60年代的功能联邦制，其特点是各级政府在不同的政策领域之间分配不同的权力；1980年代，政府间管理，其特点是界限模糊，强调各级政府和私营部门之间的合作努力。虽然在20世纪70年代之前，科学政策是由联邦政府主导的，但自1980年以来，州政府在科学和技术方面的支出急剧增加。这些国家投资的很大一部分是建立在利用科学促进经济发展的基础上的。然而，尽管有这些国家支出，各级政府在科学政策制定方面几乎没有协调或合作。本项目采用定性和定量数据收集和分析方法：1)确定州和国家NSE政策制定的关键参与者；2)确认国家NSE政策制定反映了政府间关系的集中式联邦制模式；3)探讨为什么中央联邦制模式在国家经济政策制定中得以坚持；4)研究NSE政策制定促进科学联邦制进化的潜力。该研究考察了在州和国家层面参与NSE政策制定的个人和组织的角色和行为。为了理解产生州和国家NSE政策的政府间动态，网络分析将用于绘制州和联邦机构官员、立法者和立法人员以及外部利益集团代表（包括行业协会、大学、私人智库和其他与NSE政策具体相关的组织）的角色和关系。这个项目将有助于填补政治学和公共政策研究的空白，增进对促进或阻碍在政策领域内对政府间关系采取新办法的因素的了解。政府间关系的各种模式已经发展出来，但是人们很少了解导致采用一种模式而不是另一种模式的力量，或推动政策领域从一个阶段过渡到另一个阶段的力量。从公共政策文献，官僚权力，政策企业家，网络经纪人，以及政策变化和学习在这些过程中的作用将被具体审查。该项目还将产生更广泛的影响，为那些对州和国家NSE政策以及更广泛的科学和技术政策感兴趣的人提供有关如何形成这些政策以及如何促进更多合作努力的新信息。该提案的主题是与长期纳米尺度科学和工程进展相关的社会和教育问题。

This proposal was received in response to Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative, NSF 05-610, category NER. This project examines nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) policy making to improve understanding of intergovernmental relations in the domain of science policy. In the current decade, much federal and state spending on science and technology has focused on NSE. NSE policy making thus provides an opportunity for examining and improving understanding of the failure of science federalism, and identifying strategies and opportunities for encouraging the more collaborative approaches that now prevail in most other areas of policy making. Intergovernmental relations in the United States have evolved through three distinct phases during the Twentieth Century: centralized federalism, characterized by dominance by the national government; functional federalism in the 1960s, characterized by varying allocations of power between levels of government across policy domains; and in the 1980s, intergovernmental management, characterized by a blurring of boundaries and emphasis on collaborative efforts among levels of government and the private sector. While science policy was dominated by the federal government prior to the 1970s, state government spending on science and technology has increased dramatically since 1980. Much of this state investment is predicated on leveraging science for economic development. Despite this state spending, however, there is little coordination or collaboration among levels of government in science policy making. This project employs qualitative and quantitative data collection and analyses methods to: 1) identify the key participants in state and national NSE policy making; 2) confirm that the national NSE policy making reflects the centralized federalism model of intergovernmental relations; 3) explore why the centralized federalism model has persisted in NSE policy making; and 4) examine the potential for NSE policy making to stimulate evolution in science federalism. The study examines the roles and behavior of individuals and organization involved in NSE policy making at both state and national levels. To understand the intergovernmental dynamics that are producing state and national NSE policies, network analysis will be used to map the roles and relationships of state and federal agency officials, legislators and legislative staff members, and representatives of outside interest groups including industry associations, universities, private think tanks, and other organizations specifically linked with NSE policy. This project will help fill a void in political science and public policy research by improving understanding of factors that facilitate or retard the adoption of new approaches to intergovernmental relations within policy domains. Various models of intergovernmental relations have been developed, but little is understood about the forces that cause one model to be adopted rather than another, or that drive the transition from one phase to another within a policy domain. Drawing from the public policy literature, the roles of bureaucratic power, policy entrepreneurs, network brokers, and policy change and learning in these processes will be specifically examined. The project will also have broader impact by providing those interested in state and national NSE policy as well as broader science and technology policy with new information about how such policies are formed and how more collaborative efforts might be fostered. The theme of the proposal is Societal and Educational Issues Associated with Long-Term Nanoscale Science and Engineering Advances.