Notes from Chapter 17:

Society and Technological Change, 3rd ed.

Rudi Volti

The ideas and examples referenced below are notes compiled by Robert Keel and Shannon Mayer in their reading of Volti's, Society and Technological Change, 3rd ed., St. Martin's Press, 1995. They are intended for classroom use.

GOVERNMENT AND THE CONTROL OF TECHNOLOGY

• To an increasing extent, governments are controlling the pattern of technological change
• Does government involvement in the development of technology necessarily result in more beneficial technologies?
• Are democratic ideals realized in the operation of gov’t policies and processes?

Government Actions and The Shaping of Technology

• Government involvement in technology nothing new
• Government granting patents has provided a legal framework for technological innovation (impact on diffusion)
• Government has provided infrastructure essential to the development of new technology
• Schools funded by government become a source of transmitting technology information
• Government provides auxiliary goods and services need for technology
• Airplanes require regulation, air traffic controllers, etc.
• Extensive government involvement surrounding automobile
• Government tax policies affect technological advance by (dis)encouraging capital investment
• Innovation does not always respect existing social and legal arrangements: TV and VCR’s being used to videotape movies — infringement of copyright
• Government involvement in technological research has been heavily skewed toward defense and space exploration

But Is It Necessary?

• Why has government involvement increased to such a marked degree?
• Our wealth is tied to our ability to advance technologically
• Free market cannot stimulate every type of technological advance
• We need some technology but few are willing to pay for it

1. e.g. technology creating a cleaner environment is needed. Yet, no one wants to pay for it. Yet, if it is initiated, everyone will benefit from it ("free-ride")

• Thus, social benefits may be great, but benefits to industry may be small and unprofitable
• This is why 2/3 of "pure" science is financed by the federal government.

Government Institutions for the Guidance of Technology

• A nation’s economic and military security is directly tied to its ability to produce new technology
• Special government departments are established to meet this need

1. There is no Department of Technology, per se, only a collection of committees dealing with various technological issues

• The President, while not necessarily directly involved, makes important decisions relating to technology

1. President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) — major redirection in U.S. defense policy

• Other Government involvement in technology

  The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) — est. 1972 by congress (closed 1995)

1. Provided information on technology to congress. Helped to guide its decisions and gain
2. More leverage over the president in matters relating to technology
3. OTA — overseen by board of 6 congressmen and six senators
4. Unclear whether OTA has had any impact on guiding technological policy
5. Criticism of OTA — "does not always find the perfect balance between the goals of its political masters in Congress and the goals of objectivity and neutrality that are more common to the scientists and engineers who perform its tasks." (285)

Processes

• Congress most directly affects technology through its passage of laws
• Congress also affects technology through its control over budgets

1. 1971 — supersonic transport plane never got off the ground because of lack of federal funds

• BUT, some technologies face government scrutiny while others are highly unregulated

Birth control, x-ray machines, microwave ovens

• Technologies that are large scale failures (nuclear reactor accidents) are more likely to catch attention of government than supposedly innocuous technologies
• Widespread public debate over new technology is rare, most emerge with little public attention
• Since there is no central authority for technology, many decisions are made by mid-level government officials
• Often, technologies are supported by the government because of the powerful lobbies who have a stake in their success
• Also, once technology is underway, it builds momentum— by the people who have interest in seeing it to fruition.
• Thus, a "bad" technology may make it to the market because of influential people and organizations. Once a technology is on the market it is difficult to reverse

Thus, governance of technology is faced with a paradox:

• "Change is easiest in the beginning, but this is when the need can’t be foreseen." (289)
• "Technologies do not simply stand or fall on their own merits; their success or failure can often be attributed to the political support that they receive." (289)

The Democratic Control of Technology

• Decisions are made by experts, managers and government officials
• The larger society is typically little more than a consumer of technology
• Whether technology is "good" or "bad" can be determined only by one’s values and beliefs
• As individuals, are we destined to live out a passive acceptance of the technology that is given to us?
• A democratization of technology may be appealing but it also has its costs
• The greater the number of people involved the more likely the order will be disrupted
• Can democratic participation be reconciled with technological advance?

Define democracy — the people as a whole are able to participate in making meaningful choices about the things that affect their lives. (290)

• The People do make choices that affect technology, but it is usually "after the fact"
• People favor videocassettes over videodiscs. But the choice was made from existing alternatives, and now we've given up the cassette for the DVD, and it is being replaced by digital downloads.
• In some ways, technology has increased democratization
  • TV — made current events and politics accessible to public
    • Vietnam War protests were often in response to TV coverage of War
  • The Internet: immediate access, blogging, Howard Dean's campaign

BUT, exposure does not guarantee an intelligent response

• Many critics say TV has defiled the political process, turning candidates into sound bites
• In the age of the internet--too much information, how to navigate through the mess
• Can the individual affect technological change?

Democracy works best, perhaps, at a local level, when individual can get directly involved

• Many technological issues take the back burner to a person's family, home, and job
• Given overall voter apathy in the political area, people are, perhaps, less likely to involve themselves in this arena
• Even if electorate became highly involved in technological concerns...

"No system of guiding technology will guarantee a utopia." (292)

The Challenges of The Future

Some general predictions:

• Transportation and electronic communication will bring the world closer together
• Computers will have massive memories, putting TONS of info at people's fingertips
• Microprocessors will result in the redesigning of existing objects
• Genetic engineering may allow for the design of Human Beings

BUT...

• Technology is a human creation and we have a responsibility to direct its course
• One challenge to this is a lack of a knowledgeable citizenry

"If we think [the people] not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion." (293) Thomas Jefferson

Questions?

1.  Does America need an agency that would serve to stimulate technological advance (like Japan, etc)?  What kind of problems would such an agency face?

2.  Does control over technology and technological advance suffer in the USA since most politicians and other elected officials have no background in such activities?  Would things be better if we had engineers and scientist in political positions?

3.  Can you think of any important technologies that have not been developed because of lack of political support?

4.  What is democracy?  Is technological advance increased or decreased due to democratic processes?

5.  What role should the governemnt take in regulating emerging technologies (the Internet, etc.)?

• Back to Chapter 15

• Back to the impact of Organizations

• Back to the Role of Experts

• Chapter 3