Abstract
The Congressional decision to end the American SST programme, reversing eight years of support, is used as a case study of the factors affecting Congressional decisions on technological Issues. Study of House and Senate appropriations hearings is used to identify the topics of debate, and their evolution. The introduction in these hearings of expert evaluations critical of the SST significantly altered the issues in contention between supporters and opponents of the programme An analysis of the groups voting for and against the SST in the Senate reveals, however, no similar shift in support for the programme. Only with the development of strong public opposition to the SST did any significant number of Senators change their positions, suggesting that Congress was much more concerned with the political ramifications of the SST than with the technical arguments either for or against It.
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