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The politicization of science is "manipulating science for political gain."

It occurs when government, business or interest groups use legal or economic pressure to influence the findings of scientific research or the way the it is disseminated, reported or interpreted. Historically, government, business, special interest groups have conducted various campaigns to promote their interests in defiance of scientific consensus, and in an effort to manipulate public policy.

History

Galileo and the Catholic Church

One of the earliest and best known instances of politicization was the issue of the mobility of the earth, a controversy which came to a head in Renaissance times. Galileo supported the theory of Copernicus that the planets (including the Earth) all revolve around the Sun, while the politically dominant Roman Catholic Church exalted the view of Ptolemy that the Sun and the planets all revolve around the Earth. After enjoying limited political support for his less provocative astronomical discoveries, Galileo was summoned to Rome, tried, and sentenced to life imprisonment (commuted to "house arrest").

Modern historians of science generally view this as a textbook case of political suppression of scientific fact, and in the 20th century the church issue a formal apology and vindication of Galileo.

Wheat production and the Soviet Union

Trofim Lysenko declared that the genetics of Mendel’s peas and Morgan’s fruit flies was incorrect and simply a capitalist plot to exploit the peasants and working class. Lysenko believed that only environmental factors determined the performance of plants and that acquired characteristics could be inherited. With his theory that denied the existence of gene-based inheritance, Lysenko promised almost instant improvements in agricultural production. Lysenko’s proletariat origins helped him to avoid the hatred of the Soviet authorities for the intelligentsia. He first became famous in 1928 by claiming that a series of simple steps, within reach of any farmer,produced markedly improved yields of wheat. All that was necessary was "vernalization" - soaking winter wheat seed in the fall, burying it in sacks under the snow, and planting it in the spring like ordinary spring wheat. This was all a fraud, supported by falsified data and government corruption.

Tobacco and cancer

By the mid-1950s there was a scientific consensus that smoking caused lung cancer, but the tobacco industry fought the findings, both in the public eye and within the scientific community. Tobacco companies funded think tanks and lobbying groups, started health reassurance campaigns, ran advertisements in medical journals, and researched alternate explanations for lung cancer, such as pollution, asbestos and even pet birds. Denying the case against tobacco was "closed," they called for more research as a tactic to delay regulation.

Modern accusations of politicization

George W. Bush administration

In 2004, The Denver Post reported that that George W. Bush administration "has installed more than 100 top officials who were once lobbyists, attorneys or spokespeople for the industries they oversee." At least 20 of these former industry advocates helped their agencies write, shape or push for policy shifts that benefit their former industries. "They knew which changes to make because they had pushed for them as industry advocates."

Also in 2004, the scientific advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists issued a report, Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation into the Bush Administration's Misuse of Science which charged the following:

A growing number of scientists, policy makers, and technical specialists both inside and outside the government allege that the current Bush administration has suppressed or distorted the scientific analyses of federal agencies to bring these results in line with administration policy. In addition, these experts contend that irregularities in the appointment of scientific advisors and advisory panels are threatening to upset the legally mandated balance of these bodies."

A petition, signed by more than 9,000 scientists, including 49 Nobel laureates and 63 National Medal of Science recipients, followed the report. The petition stated:

"When scientific knowledge has been found to be in conflict with its political goals, the administration has often manipulated the process through which science enters into its decisions. This has been done by placing people who are professionally unqualified or who have clear conflicts of interest in official posts and on scientific advisory committees; by disbanding existing advisory committees; by censoring and suppressing reports by the government’s own scientists; and by simply not seeking independent scientific advice. Other administrations have, on occasion, engaged in such practices, but not so systematically nor on so wide a front. Furthermore, in advocating policies that are not scientifically sound, the administration has sometimes misrepresented scientific knowledge and misled the public about the implications of its policies."

The same year, Francesca Grifo, executive director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Scientific Integrity Program, stated "We have reports that stay in draft form and don't get out to the public. We have reports that are changed. We have reports that are ignored and overwritten."

In response to criticisms, President Bush in 2006 unveiled a campaign in his State of the Union Address to promote scientific research and education to ensure American competitiveness in the world, vowing to "double the federal commitment to the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next 10 years."

Surgeon General

Dr. Richard Carmona, the first surgeon general appointed by President George W. Bush, publicly accused the administration in July of 2007 of political interference and muzzling him on key issues like embryonic stem cell research. Although he did not make personal accusations, the Washington Post reported on July 29 that the official who blocked at least one of Carmona's reports was William R. Steiger.

Food and Drug Administration

According to USA Today, a survey of Food and Drug Administration scientists by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Union of Concerned Scientists found that many scientists have been pressured to approve or reject new drugs despite their scientific findings concerns. In July 2006, the Union of Concerned Scientists released survey results that they said "demonstrate pervasive political influence of science" at the Food and Drug Administration

United States Department of the Interior

On May 1, 2007, deputy assistant secretary at the United States Department of the Interior Julie MacDonald resigned after the Interior Department Inspector General, Honorable Earl E. Devaney, reported that MacDonald broke federal rules by giving non-public, internal government documents to oil industry and property rights groups, and manipulated scientific findings to favor Bush policy goals and assist land developers. On 29 November, 2007, another report by the Devaney found that MacDonald could have also benefitted financially from a decision she was involved with to remove the Sacramento splittail fish from the federal endangered species list.

MacDonald's conduct violated the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) under 5 C.F.R. 9 2635.703 Use of Nonpublic Information and 5 C.F.R. 5 2635.101 Basic Obligation of Public Service, Appearance of Preferential Treatment. MacDonald resigned a week before a House congressional oversight committee was to hold a hearing on accusations that she had "violated the Endangered Species Act, censored science and mistreated staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."

Global warming

Both sides of the controversy over global warming have accused each other of politicizing the science behind climate change.

In 1991, a US corporate coalition including the National Coal Association, the Western Fuels Association and Edison Electrical Institute created a public relations organization called the "Information Council on the Environment" (ICE). ICE launched a $500,000 advertising campaign to, in ICE's own words, "reposition global warming as theory (not fact)." Critics of industry groups have charged that the claims about the a global warming controversy are part of a deliberate effort to reduce the impact any international treaty, such as the Kyoto Protocol, might have on their business interests. Conversely, skeptics of global warming have decried alarmism.

In June 2005, John Vidal, environment editor of The Guardian, asserted the existence of US State Department papers showing that the Bush administration thanked Exxon executives for the company's "active involvement" in helping to determine climate change policy, including the US stance on Kyoto. Input from the industry advocacy group Global Climate Coalition was also a factor. In 2006, The Guardian reported that according data found in official Exxon documents, 124 organizations have taken money from ExxonMobil or worked closely with who that have, and that "These organizations take a consistent line on climate change: that the science is contradictory, the scientists are split, environmentalists are charlatans, liars or lunatics, and if governments took action to prevent global warming, they would be endangering the global economy for no good reason. The findings these organisations dislike are labelled 'junk science'. The findings they welcome are labelled 'sound science'.". Accusations of scientific abuse are also called the "selective use of data" by the Pacific Institute, an institute created to provide independent research and policy analysis on issues at the intersection of development, environment, and security.

Climate change has also long been a political issue for the Democratic party politician Al Gore, who is often accused of using issue as a means to advancing his political ambitions. Recently, Gore won an Academy Award and a Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

Waxman report

In August 2003, United States, Democratic Congressman Henry A. Waxman and the staff of the Government Reform Committee released a report concluding that the administration of George W. Bush had politicized science and sex education. The report accuses the administration of modifying performance measures for abstinence-based programs to make them look more effective. The report also found that the Bush administration had appointed Dr. Joseph McIlhaney, a prominent advocate of abstinence-only program, to the Advisory Committee to the director of the Center for Disease Control. According to the report, information about comprehensive sex education was removed from the CDC's website. Other issues considered for removal included agricultural pollution, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and breast cancer; the report found that a National Cancer Institute website has been changed to reflect the administration view that there may be a risk of breast cancer associated with abortions.

US House of Representatives Science Oversight and Investigation subcommittee

In January 2007, the House Committee on Science and Technology announced the formation of a new subcommittee, the Science Oversight and Investigation subcommittee, which handles investigative and oversight activities on matters covering the committee's entire jurisdiction. The subcommittee has authority to look into a whole range of important issues, particularly those concerning manipulation of scientific data at Federal agencies. In an interview, subcommitte chairman Rep. Brad Miller pledged to "look into...scientific integrity issues under the Bush Administration. There have been lots of reports in the press of manipulating science to support policy, rigging advisory panels, and suppressing research by federal employees or with federal dollars. I've written about that here before, and you interviewed me a year ago about the manipulation of science. In addition to the published reports, the committee staff has been collecting accounts, some confidential, of interference by political appointees. I hope that more folks will come forward now that Democrats are in the majority and we show we're really going to pursue the issue.}}

See also

• Antiscience
• Artificial controversy
• Denialism
• Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns
• Framing (communication theory)
• Kansas evolution hearings
• The Republican War on Science
• Spin (public relations)
• Scientists and Engineers for America

References

1. Politicizing Science: The Alchemy of Policymaking
2. Wedge Document
3. Evolution or design debate heats up.
4. American Association for the Advancement of Science Statement on the Teaching of Evolution]
5. Intelligent Judging — Evolution in the Classroom and the Courtroom George J. Annas, New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 354:2277-2281 May 25, 2006
6. Harmful Politicization of Science
7. Tobacco companies obstructed science, history professor says
8. When Advocates Become Regulators Anne C. Mulkern. The Denver Post, May 23 2004.
9. Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation into the Bush Administration's Misuse of Science Union of Concerned Scientists
10. Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policymaking Union of Concerned Scientists
11. Scientific Integrity Statement Signatories Union of Concerned Scientists
12. Bush Science Push Fails to Transform Critics Don Gonyea. National Public Radio, Weekend Edition Sunday, February 26 2006.
13. Harris, Gardiner (July 11, 2007). "Surgeon General Sees 4-Year Term as Compromised". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
14. Dunham, Will (July 10, 2007). "Former Bush surgeon general says he was muzzled". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. Bush Aide Blocked Report, Christopher Lee and Marc Kaufman, The Washington Post, July 29, 2007.
16. Survey: FDA scientists question safety
17. FDA Scientists Pressured to Exclude, Alter Findings; Scientists Fear Retaliation for Voicing Safety Concerns
18. Examples of abuse, Scientific Integrity at Risk: The Food and Drug Administration
19. "Report: Interior official blasted for twisting environmental data". USA Today. March 30, 2007.
20. U.S. Endangered Species Program Burdened by Political Meddling
21. "REPORT OF INVESTIGATION: Julie MacDonald, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Fish, Wildlife and Parks" (PDF). US Department of the Interior. March 23, 2007.
22. Embattled Interior official resigns post"
23. The PR Plot to Overheat the Earth
24. Revealed: how oil giant influenced Bush, White House sought advice from Exxon on Kyoto stance John Vidal. The Guardian, June 8 2005
25. The Denial Industry The Guardian, September 19, 2006
26. The Political and Selective Use of Data: Cherry-Picking Climate Information in the White House
27. Integrity of Science initiative of the Pacific Institute
28. Gore's Grave New World
29. Politics and Science
30. Politics & Science: Investigating the Bush Administration's Promotion of Ideology Over Science
31. "The Subcommittee handles investigative and oversight activities on matters covering the entire jurisdiction of the Committee on Science and Technology. This Subcommittee is new for the 110th Congress." Subcommittees, Committee on Science and Technology
32. Democrats Form New Science Subcommittee Brad Miller interview. Daily Kos, January 24, 2007.

• Discovery Institute campaigns
• Politics by issue
• Science in society
• Types of scientific fallacy
• George W. Bush administration controversies
• Denialism