Suchergebnisse

Approaches to the interagency coordination of research & development (R & D) policy adopted by the governments of five western European countries & the US are described & analyzed comparatively in terms of four variables: procedures, aims, distribution & sources of influence among participating agencies, & the frame of reference which orders governmental actions in R & D for coordination purposes. Differences stem from general features of policy formation within each system & changes over time in the conception & goals of "science policy." The inherent ambiguities of the coordination concept & the difficulties in defining the "perfect coordinated" system are primary obstacles in evaluating coordination formats both within & across systems. HA.

In the aftermath of the 1968 demonstrations, the French university system underwent a reform designed, among other objectives, to increase the decision-making responsi bilities of the local universities. This paper analyzes the extent, nature, and processes of change in the distribution of authority between the national administration and the local academic institutions. A classification ofdecision-makingpowers by their instru mentality, political sensitiveness, institutional distinctiveness, and perception as indi vidual "rights" uncovers several consistencies which help explain why decentralization proceeded as far as and where it did.

In January 1974 the Council of Ministers of the European Community issued a resolution calling for the coordination of the science and technology policies of the member countries. This initiative came after several years of largely unrewarded efforts by the European institutions to bring a measure of Community-wide coherence in national R&D programs and objectives. Despite the development of alternative decision-making and implementation procedures, the Community's impact on national activities was on the whole limited in scope, confined to programs of marginal importance and more concerned with the joint execution of specific research tasks than with the political motives and intentions of the member governments. A review of the 1974 resolution's effects, principally through the work of the CREST committee, demonstrates that the multiple obstacles to policy coordination have yet to be overcome. These obstacles stem from a) varying conceptions of the policy coordination task, b) the discrepancies and inadequacies in national science policy formulation, c) deficiencies in the perspectives and procedures of Commission officials and national delegations, and d) a variety of constraints which restrict the domain of possible Community intervention.

ABSTRACTThe notions of risk and safety which play a conspicuous role in the regulation of toxic substances have shown a markedly different evolution in France and the United States. American law has moved toward the development of statutory criteria of risk assessment, balancing both the costs and benefits of regulation, while the French legislator has consistently avoided a substantive elaboration of safety concepts through legal texts. This contrast is documented and its implications for the discretionary authority of regulating agencies discussed. Divergent national patterns are explained with reference to four factors distinguishing the legal and political systems of the two countries.