Leah W. Buchman, Carol L Goldsmith, Elizabeth Heitman, Kiran Kang, Xinsheng Liu
{"title":"Public trust in regulatory agencies and support for policies on agricultural gene drive","authors":"Leah W. Buchman, Carol L Goldsmith, Elizabeth Heitman, Kiran Kang, Xinsheng Liu","doi":"10.1111/ropr.12610","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Public trust in government agencies plays an important role in the formation of public opinion about public policy issues. However, the association between public trust in regulatory agencies and public support for policy development in emergent biotechnologies such as gene drive is not well understood. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are tasked with coordinating and regulating biotechnology. Drawing on past literature, this study examines how public trust in these federal agencies is associated with public opinion on various options for gene drive policy. Using data from a nationally representative public opinion survey (n = 1220) conducted in 2021, our statistical analyses show that respondents who report higher levels of trust in regulatory agencies are more likely to support policy proposals that promote gene drive research and ultimately, may lead to regulatory policies that allow gene drive to be researched and employed to manage agricultural pests, establishing a pathway for scientists, developers, producers, and consumers alike to realize the benefits of this technology.","PeriodicalId":47408,"journal":{"name":"Review of Policy Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Review of Policy Research","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12610","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"POLITICAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Public trust in government agencies plays an important role in the formation of public opinion about public policy issues. However, the association between public trust in regulatory agencies and public support for policy development in emergent biotechnologies such as gene drive is not well understood. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are tasked with coordinating and regulating biotechnology. Drawing on past literature, this study examines how public trust in these federal agencies is associated with public opinion on various options for gene drive policy. Using data from a nationally representative public opinion survey (n = 1220) conducted in 2021, our statistical analyses show that respondents who report higher levels of trust in regulatory agencies are more likely to support policy proposals that promote gene drive research and ultimately, may lead to regulatory policies that allow gene drive to be researched and employed to manage agricultural pests, establishing a pathway for scientists, developers, producers, and consumers alike to realize the benefits of this technology.
期刊介绍:
The Review of Policy Research (RPR) is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to the publication of research and analysis examining the politics and policy of science and technology. These may include issues of science policy, environment, resource management, information networks, cultural industries, biotechnology, security and surveillance, privacy, globalization, education, research and innovation, development, intellectual property, health and demographics. The journal encompasses research and analysis on politics and the outcomes and consequences of policy change in domestic and comparative contexts.