Collaborative Research: The U.S. Environmental Risk Policy Network

风险概念和风险分析等正式工具已成为环境和技术政策的核心。在环境政策中使用风险概念是一项由专注于但不限于华盛顿特区的政策网络成员开展的活动。该项目对风险分析师政策网络的成员进行调查，以解决两个中心研究问题：*美国环境风险政策网络是如何构建的？网络分析的进步使研究小组能够确定网络的边界、参与者在其中的位置，以及假设影响政策结果的基本结构特征。*哪些因素影响了美国环境风险政策网络的结构？网络模型有助于确定生成观察到的网络的过程。这为推动政策网络自组织的理论基础提供了重要的、理论上相关的见解。这项研究包括将收集的新数据与两个先前的数据集合并，一个收集在1980年代初(当时对政策采取的风险办法相对较新)，另一个在2000年左右收集的较小的复制数据。实现了对同一网络中随时间变化的分析，这是风险或政策网络文献中尚未广泛研究的主题。Risk分析是一组分析工具，已成为环境和技术政策讨论的中心功能。风险是科学信息进入政策辩论的关键途径。风险专业人员网络开展风险分析工作并参与政策辩论。通过更好地了解这些专业人士和他们的网络，我们可以深入了解科学如何有助于制定政策。此外，通过这些专业人士了解科学和其他类型的信息流吗？网络将有助于加强交流和在决策中有效利用科学。

Concepts of risk and formal tools such as risk analysis have become central to environmental and technology policy. The use of risk concepts in environmental policy is an activity carried out by members of a policy network focused in, but not limited to, Washington, DC. This project surveys the members of the policy network of risk analysts in order to address two central research questions: * How is the U.S. environmental risk policy network structured? Advances in network analysis allow the research team to identify the boundaries of the network, the position of actors within it, and essential structural features hypothesized to influence policy outcomes.* What factors have influenced the structure of the U.S. environmental risk policy network? Network models facilitate determining the processes by which the observed network is generated. This lends important, theoretically-relevant insights into the rationales that drive the self-organization of policy networks. The research includes the merging of the new data to be collected with two prior datasets, one collected during the early 1980s (when risk approaches to policy were relatively new) and one smaller replication collected circa 2000. The enables an analysis of changes over time in the same network, a subject that has not been extensively studied in the risk or policy networks literature.Risk analysis is a set of analytic tools that has become a central feature in discussions of environmental and technology policies. Risk is a key way in which scientific information enters into policy debates. A network of risk professionals carries out the work of risk analysis and engages in policy debates. By better understanding these professionals and their networks, we can gain insights into how science contributes to shaping policy. Moreover, understanding the flows of scientific and other kinds of information through these professionals? networks will contribute to the development of enhanced communication and the effective use of science in decision making.