Jun 12, 2026 07:43 PM
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/the...of-science
EXCERPT: In 1962, Michael Polanyi published “The Republic of Science” in Minerva and described a post-war vision of the scientific community as a self-governing polity [...] I interpret the workshop through the lens of today’s new republic of science — and I highlight six tensions that emerged from our discussions. [...] Institutions of research and development now face risks and opportunities as science policy is no longer unassailable...
[...] In the United States, the past two administrations have compounded damage from opposite directions. The Trump administration views science as oppositional to its MAGA priorities —DOGE cuts to federal research agencies, purges of scientists from advisory panels, and a proposed OMB rule redefining federal research in partisan terms all focus on the institutional base of federal research and development.
The Biden administration caused damage as well: viewing the scientific community as a partisan constituency, weaponizing scientific authority to foreclose debate, and abandoning the broad social contract in favor of tribal alignment. Many in the scientific community willingly played along with the partisan framing of science policy — supporting Democrats while opposing Republicans.
The results have played out over more than a decade, with overall confidence in science dropping and becoming much more partisan. Cleavages are not simply partisan — Confidence in scientists among Hispanic Americans dropped from 82 to 61 percent, and among Black Americans from 85 to 69 percent, between 2019 and 2023. The figure below from my talk illustrate these tensions... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: In 1962, Michael Polanyi published “The Republic of Science” in Minerva and described a post-war vision of the scientific community as a self-governing polity [...] I interpret the workshop through the lens of today’s new republic of science — and I highlight six tensions that emerged from our discussions. [...] Institutions of research and development now face risks and opportunities as science policy is no longer unassailable...
[...] In the United States, the past two administrations have compounded damage from opposite directions. The Trump administration views science as oppositional to its MAGA priorities —DOGE cuts to federal research agencies, purges of scientists from advisory panels, and a proposed OMB rule redefining federal research in partisan terms all focus on the institutional base of federal research and development.
The Biden administration caused damage as well: viewing the scientific community as a partisan constituency, weaponizing scientific authority to foreclose debate, and abandoning the broad social contract in favor of tribal alignment. Many in the scientific community willingly played along with the partisan framing of science policy — supporting Democrats while opposing Republicans.
The results have played out over more than a decade, with overall confidence in science dropping and becoming much more partisan. Cleavages are not simply partisan — Confidence in scientists among Hispanic Americans dropped from 82 to 61 percent, and among Black Americans from 85 to 69 percent, between 2019 and 2023. The figure below from my talk illustrate these tensions... (MORE - missing details)
