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545 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 8 (1996)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0545 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE During the past two decades, our society has grown healthier and safer on average and has spent billions of dollars and immense effort to become so. Nevertheless, the public has become more, rather than less, concerned about risk. We have come to see ourselves as being exposed to more serious risks than we faced in the past, and we believe that the worst is yet to come. A second dramatic trend is that risk assessment and risk management, like many other facets of our society, have become much more politicized and contentious. Polarized views, controversy, and overt conflict have become perva- sive. The public has lost faith in the ability of science, industry, and government to manage the risks from many important technologies, such as nuclear power and chemicals and their wastes. In addition, the conflict is exacerbated by sharp differences between people as to who should and does benefit or lose as a result of specific decisions-for example, siting a noxious facility. Difficulties in managing risks from technology are compounded by the fact that there is often great uncertainty associated with estimates of those risks. This uncertainty is sometimes due to a sparse database from which to derive risk estimates. Knowledge of the ways in which accidents, illnesses, or other forms of harm result from exposure to a technology may also be lacking. If the hazard is latent, then it may be even more difficult to determine the potential harmful consequences. In addition, there may be many factors triggering a particular disease (such as cancer), making it difficult to deter- mine the responsibility of a particular technology or event (for example, groundwater contamination). In addition, each party concerned with a particular problem involving risks to health, safety, or the environment has its own goals and agenda, often framed around how risky a particular activity is likely to be. Scientific experts frequently disagree on the nature of the risks, so that each interested party can typically find someone to support its position. Given the lack of adequate theoretical models and data for many of these risks, it is often difficult to evaluate the differences between these estimates. The U.S. Congress has also been concerned with risk assessment and risk management. Several recent bills have proposed detailed risk assessments and benefit-cost analyses as a basis for determining appropriate regulations and standards. It is not easy to forecast the impact that this proposed legislation might have on the treatment of risk in our society. THE NEED FOR A NEW PERSPECTIVE The conflicts and controversies surrounding risk are not due to public irrationality or ignorance but, instead, may be seen as a side effect of our remarkable form of participatory democratic government, amplified by cer- 8

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