Trust and Public Participation in Risk Policy Issues
- BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
Recent social science literature has paid increasing attention to the concept of trust, albeit with differing definitions and constituents and also with differing emphases on societal origins, functions, and implications. Recently, discussion has shifted to the role of trust in hazard management and, more broadly, to the fundamental role of trust in modern society. In this paper, we provide answers to the following questions, in an attempt to refocus the discussion and identify a more productive research approach to the relationship of trust and public participation in risk policy issues: -What is trust? What are the differing conceptions and dimensions of trust that have been identified in the literature? -What are the social functions of trust? -What is the relationship between trust and public participation in risk policy issues? Why is trust particularly important for agencies such as the Department of Energy (DOE) that are responsible for development and implementation of policies involving technological risk? -How should we define the research problem in examining the relationship between trust and public participation in risk policy issues? What are the key research questions to be addressed? Federal agencies have introduced public participation as a means of addressing public distrust and enhancing their ability to make decisions that can be implemented. In some cases, such as the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board, public participation was explicitly identified as an organizational response that was needed to re-establish public trust and confidence in the Department of Energy (DOE). However, our review of the literature on both trust and public participation and our experience in developing criteria for evaluating public participation initiatives have resulted in our questioning the wisdom of establishing trust as a goal of public participation and caused us to examine the relationship between trust and public participation.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 15004140
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-31817; EW09MM11A
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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