Abstract

It is now commonplace for policy-makers, think -tanks and social scientists to call for increased public participation in science and technology policy (e.g. House of Lords, 2000; Wilsden and Willis, 2004; CST, 2005). Nowhere is this more apparent than in stem cell science. The recent Pattison report1 on the UK Stem Cell Initiative called on the government to invest at least £350m in stem cell research by 2016 and also stressed the importance of maintaining a ‘close liaison of parties involved in developing regulation and public dialogue on stem cell research’ (recommendations 8 & 11). Whilst laudable, the idea of increased participation is not without its problems. For example, one frequently expressed concern is that public dialogue comes too late in the process to effect any significant change. From this perspective, consultation exercises are seen as ways of re-building trust so that what is presented as an exercise in democratic participation can often be interpreted as an investigation into how to gain support of the public (cf Irwin, 2001, 2006; Rayner, 2003; Rowe and Frewer, 2004).