Trust and Fairness in the Management of Environmental Hazards

政府机构的主要作用，如那些负责环境风险管理的机构，是按照公平、中立的程序在相互竞争的私人利益之间进行调解。然而，为了有效，政府机构使用的程序不仅需要客观公平(即符合公认的规范公平标准)，还必须被视为公平，被相互竞争的利益攸关方接受为公平。尽管大多数政府机构在客观公平的程序上投入了大量资源(例如，通过确保所有相关方都有机会就某一问题发表意见)，但越来越多的证据表明，被推定为客观公平的东西往往被认为是不公平的。尤其是当公众认为具有重大道德重要性的问题岌岌可危时，情况尤其如此。当决策的结果违反利益相关者的道德标准时，那么产生结果的程序，无论其客观性质如何，很可能被判定为不公平和非法的。该项目旨在探索公平程序在环境风险管理中的有效性，这是一个经常以道德意义重大的价值观冲突为特征的领域。我们的方法是基于对信任和公平之间关系的分析。根据我们的表述，个人之间(或个人与机构或其代表之间)信任的基础是一种感觉，即重要的价值观是共享的，它们通过共同的社会纽带联系在一起。正是这种共同的纽带使小组成员解决问题的方式合法化。根据这一观点，公平是在群体内部进行社会定义的，而不是在群体之间客观地定义的。总而言之，公平有赖于事先建立信任。将对美国和瑞士的普通人群进行实验性调查，以测试我们对信任和公平的理解。对我们方法的支持将为如何使利益攸关方更有效、更高效和更公平地参与环境决策--以及整个民主进程--提供至关重要的洞察力。

A primary role of government agencies, such as those that responsible for the management of environmental risks, is to mediate among competing private interests, following fair, neutral procedures. To be effective, however, the procedures used by government agencies need not only to be objectively fair (i.e., meet accepted normative standards of fairness), they must be perceived as fair, accepted as being fair by the competing stakeholders. Although most government agencies invest large amounts of resources in objectively fair procedures (e.g., by insuring that all interested parties have opportunities to express their views on an issue), there is growing evidence that what is presumed to be objectively fair is often perceived to be unfair. This is the case, in particular, when members of the public believe that issues of great moral importance are at stake. When the outcomes of decisions violate the moral standards of stakeholders, then the procedures that produced the outcomes, whatever their objective properties, are likely to be judged to be unfair and illegitimate.This project is designed to explore the effectiveness of fair procedures in environmental risk management, an arena often characterized by the clash of morally significant values. Our approach is based on an analysis of the relations between trust and fairness. According to our formulation, the basis for trust between individuals (or between a person and an agency or its representative) is a feeling that important values are shared, that they are joined by a common social bond. It is this common bond that legitimizes the ways that members of the group solve problems. According to this view fairness is socially defined within groups, as opposed to being objectively defined across groups. In brief summation, fairness depends on the prior establishment of trust. Experimental surveys of general populations in both the United States and Switzerland will carried out to test our understanding of trust and fairness. Support for our approach would provide vital insight into how stakeholder involvement in environmental decision making-and democratic processes in general-could be made more effective, efficient, and fair.