Public Policy Debate

The authors in chapter 10 draw many conclusions about using models to create public policy. Below are three different quotations from the book, each representing one conclusion.

Choose only ONE conclusion from the 1) – 3) below. Explain how this conclusion might be true in a public policy debate.

Rules: You must refer to the textbook chapter at least once, using ideas from the debate about values in technology, the case studies, the analysis section, and/or the conclusion. Use quotation marks ” ” and give the page number if you use wording from the textbook. Otherwise, paraphrase all ideas coming from the textbook. Only use the textbook an​​d your own knowledge and experience as sources for ideas.

1) “Such a concentration of power, where both the research and the final decision are strongly linked, causes the actors to develop a bias towards their own ideas…When such close links are contested or absent, the diversity raises because of the possibility of questioning current ideas and beliefs” (pg. 217).

2) “We observed often that belief in the model as the right descriptor and predictor of reality was almost absolute at the level of policy makers. ‘If it has a number it must be true.’ We argue that this number is as much a reflection of the developers’ ideas as it reflects reality” (pg. 217).

3) “Furthermore, we can conclude that not only the designer of the model is able to place values into the model but these values are also incorporated by the users of the application. Not because through a technological frame, they attribute a certain meaning to a technology but because the data in the model itself is not flawless.This means that is possible that models used by different actors generate entirely different outcomes” (pg. 217).