Time, science and consensus: the different times involving scientific research, political decision and public opinion

• Main Authors: José Aparecido de, Isaac Epstein
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu (Unesp) 2010-01-01
• Series: Interface: Comunicação, Saúde, Educação
• Subjects: Ciencia; Conocimiento; Opinión Pública; Divulgación Científica
• Online Access: http://socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1414-32832010000100010&lng=en&tlng=en

This essay analyses the asymmetrical relationship between the time of scientific research and the time of the different segments interested in their results, focusing mainly on necessity to establish technical consensus about the fields of science that require rigorous investigations and texts. In the last years, civil society sectors - mainly scientific journalism, legislative power, and public opinion - has shown growing interest in participating of the decision making process that regulates science routes. In this study, we analyzed the decision making process of the Biosafety Law, as it allows research with embryonic stem cells in Brazil. The results allow us to conclude that this asymmetrical relationship between the different times (of science, scientific disclosure, public opinion, and public power) contribute to the maturing of the dialog on scientific policies, as well as to the establishment of a consensus concerning science routes, which aims at the democratization of scientific work.