Policy Legitimacy, Science and Political Authority

This book examines the tensions between political authority and expert authority in the formation of public policy in liberal democracies. It aims to illustrate and better understand the nature of these tensions rather than argue specific ways of resolving them. Each chapter explores the complexity of interaction between the two forms of authority in different policy domains in order to reveal and clarify some common elements in the various ways political and expert authority interact in modern liberal democracies. The policy domains covered include climate geoengineering discourses; environmental health; biotechnology; nuclear power; whaling; and the use of force.