Congress and National Science Policy
The recent efforts by Congress to reassert some of its constitutional prerogatives, which began with the reaction against involvement in Vietnam and continues in the wake of the Watergate affair, have made the role of the legislative branch a more lively issue than it has been at perhaps any other time in this century. The degree of legislative involvement affects many areas of government policy, including the complex of issues and activities that together make up "science policy." The role of Congress in setting and maintaining science policy has never been very well defined or delimited. Congressional influence has often been felt in specific cases, such as the development of atomic energy, the Apollo project, and controversial and expensive weapons systems. In general, however, the pattern and direction of federally supported research and development has been set in the executive branch and embodied in the budget presented annually to Congress. As the deployment of scientific resources becomes a critical instrument of government in virtually every area of public concern, science policy has come to be regarded as one of the vital levers of social action. For this reason, it is entirely possible that Congress may take advantage of the present climate of political uncertainty to try to assert more authority in this area of public policy than it has had either the will or the opportunity to do since the end of World War II.