This article finds that scientists use uncertainty about health risk to bar gain on behalf of citizens. Scientists are critical of the data and theories of regulatory agencies, and citizens are dissatisfied with the resulting de cisions. These actors unite to create a powerful technical and political part nership to challenge decision mak ers. This study cites a typical exam ple of opposition to the intended siting of a municipal waste incinera tor in Brooklyn, New York. To rem edy such predicaments for decision makers, scientific disagreements should be assessed as worst-case ranges of risk in the limited neigh borhood locations where they occur. Decision makers can then incorpo rate uncertainty intentionally into new bargains with citizens and sci entists.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bacow, L., and Wheeler, M.1984. Environmental Dispute Resolution. New York: Plenum Press.
2.
Bacharach, S., and Lawler, E.1981. Bargaining: Power, Tactics and Outcomes. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
3.
Brickman, R.; Jasanoff, S.; and Ilgen, T.1985. Controlling Chemicals. Ithaca : Cornell University Press.
4.
Buc, L., and Haymore, C.1983. Regulating hazardous waste incinerators under the resource conservation and recovery act. Natural Resources Journal vol. 23.
5.
Chamberlain, N.W.1951. Collective Bargaining. New York : McGraw-Hill.
6.
—. 1955. A General Theory of Economic ProcessNew York: Harper and Row.
7.
Commoner, B.Interview with author, 12 August 1986.
8.
Commoner, B., et al. 1984. Activities of the municipal solid waste community information service.
9.
Commoner, B.; McNamara, M.; Shapiro, K.; and Webster, T.1984. Environmental and Economic Analysis of Alternative Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Technologies. Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, Queens College, CUNY, Flushing, New York, vols. 1-3 (vol. 1 published 1 May 1984; revised August 1984).
10.
Department of Sanitation (DOS), City of New York.1984. Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Resource Recovery Facility at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (DEIS) (Draft.
11.
Dereszewski, J.Interview with author, 24 June 1987.
12.
Einhorn, H., and Hogarth, R.1986. Decision making under ambiguity. In Rational Choice: The Contrast Between Economics and Psychology, eds. R. Hogarth and M. Reder.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
13.
Fischhoff, B.1985. Managing risk perception. Issues in Science and Technology3(1).
14.
Fischhoff, et. al. 1979 . How safe is safe enough? A psychometric study of attitudes toward technological risks and benefits. Policy Sciences vol. 8.
15.
Fisher, R., and Ury, W.1981. Getting to Yes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
16.
Hammond, K.; Anderson, B.; Sutherland, J.; and Marvin, B.1984. Improving scientists' judgments of risk. Risk Analysis4(1).
17.
Hart, F.C., and Associates, Inc.1984. Assessment of Potential Public Health Impacts Associated With Predicted Emissions of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-Dioxins and Polychlorinated Dibenzo Furans From the Brooklyn Navy Yard Resource Recovery Facility. Prepared for the New York CityDepartment of Sanitation .
18.
Jasanoff, S.1986. Risk Management and Political Culture. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
19.
Klapp, M.1987. The Sovereign Entrepreneur: Oil Policies in Advanced and Less Developed Capitalistic Countries. Special series on political economy . Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
20.
—. 1988a. Challenges from smart publics. The Environmental Professional vol. 10.
21.
—. 1988b. The Power of Uncertainty: The Science and Politics of Regulating Environmental Risk. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (forthcoming).
22.
Litai, D.; Lanning, D.D.; and Rasmussen, N.C.1983. The public perception of risk. In The Analysis of Actual Versus Perceived Risks, ed. V. T. Covello , et al. New York: Plenum Press .
23.
Meyer, J.1987. City of New York, Department of Sanitation.
24.
Morgan, M.G.; Morris, S.; Henrion, M.; Amaral, D.; and Rish, W.1984. Technical uncertainty in quantitative policy analysis: A sulphur dioxide example. Risk Analysis4(3).
25.
Municipal Solid Waste Community Information Service Program.1985. Activities of the Municipal Solid Waste Community Information Service.
26.
Nelkin, D., and Pollack, M.1981. The Atom Beseiged. Cambridge : MIT Press.
27.
Nyhart, J. D., and Carrow, M. M., eds. 1983. Law and Science in Collaboration: Resolving Regulatory Issues of Science and Technology.
28.
Otway, H.J., and Cohen, J.J.1975. Revealed preferences: Comments on the Starr benefit-risk relationships. Vienna: International Institute for Applied System Analysis.
29.
Pen, J.1959. The Wage Rate Under Collective Bargaining, trans., T.S. Preston. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
30.
Renn, O.Interview with author, 5 December 1987.
31.
Rowe, W.1977. An Anatomy of Risk. New York : Wiley.
32.
Schnitzler, R.Interview with author, 30 June 1987.
Slovic, P.; Fischhoff, B.; and Lichenstein, S.1980. Facts and fears: Understanding perceived risk. Societal Risk Assessment: How Safe is Safe Enough?, ed. R. Schwing and W Albers.New York: Plenum Press.
35.
Slovic, P.; Fischhoff, B.; and Lichtenstein, S.1985. Perilous Progress: Managing the Hazards of Technology, eds. R. W. Kates , C. Hohenemser, and J. X. Kasperson.Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
36.
Starr, C.1969. Social benefit versus technological risk. Science vol. 165.
37.
Straus, D.1987. Public Health and the Environment, ed. M. Greenberg.Guilford.
38.
Susskind, L.Interview with author, 1 November 1988.
39.
Susskind, L., and Cruikshank, J.1987. Breaking the Impasse. New York : Basic Books.
40.
Susskind, L., and McMahon, G.1985. The theory and practice of negotiated rulemaking . Yale Journal of Regulation vol. 3(1).
41.
Tversky, A., and Kahneman, D.1981. The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice . Science vol. 211.
42.
Veseley, W., and Rasmuson, D.1984. Uncertainties in nuclear probabilistic risk analyses . Risk Analysis4(4).
43.
Vogel, D.1986. National Styles of Regulation: Environmental Policy in Great Britain and the United States. Ithaca, New York : Cornell University Press.
44.
von Winterfeldt, D., and Edwards, W.1984. Patterns of conflict about risky technologies. Risk Analysis4(1).
