Engaging the Public in the UK — The Problem of Inclusion

Abstract

In cross-national studies on science and technology policy and risk management Britain has been characterised as comparatively closed and elitist (e.g. Jasanoff 1995). However, in the wake of the BSE scandal in 1995 a remarkable shake-up and reordering of the mode of governance has taken place in recent years. In this chapter I analyse a significant moment in this development, an orchestrated public debate that embodies public engagement in a particular manner. This debate was carried out in 2003 under the inciting title ‘GM Nation?’ and constituted a landmark in public engagement with biotechnology in Britain. However, as the debate took place in a highly charged and politicised climate, it also starkly divided opinions in regarding the utility and legitimacy of this kind of public engagement, which may entail important lessons for the future uses of participatory policy tools in the UK and elsewhere.