"Science and public participation in regulating genetically-modified food: French and American experiences"

The paper is divided into two sections. The first section considers the role of science and policy, contrasting it with understandings of participatory policymaking. It suggests resolving the tension between these two modes by turning to regulatory officials. Regulators are often portrayed as empty vessels reflecting the preferences of either scientists or the public, but in fact can possess considerable discretion in resolving tensions. We then suggest a set of ideal types of policymaking. The second section turns to the analysis of our cases. We consider the Citizen Conference and the Commission du Génie Biomoléculaire in France, and the Food and Drug Administration public meetings in the United States. We conclude with some reflections on how well these three cases integrate and moderate expert and public participation