Politicized Science

Politicized Science

In the past, science has been held with high praise in much of the political landscape. However, in today’s political realm, it seems as if the opposite is true. Politics today influence many important scientific issues that affect society as a whole, and it has public figures from both political sides blaming one another. It seems that science may never escape the grip of politics.

The politicization of science is when science is viewed through a lens that makes a scientific issue or discovery a political topic that can be used for political gain, and normally has distinct divided opinions. One reason a scientific issue may become politicized is for public notoriety in an election. For example, for a topic like abortion, if a politician believes abortion should be allowed, and wants to target the group of individuals that agree with what he or she believes and gain their votes, then he or she may bring it into their campaign. Politicians may also use the public’s ignorance on an issue to gain a political advantage, telling them what they want to hear and swaying their vote. Another reason science may work its way into politics is when the government is implementing a new policy or law, or trying to negotiate a deal, like with the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipeline. Finally, a third reason science may become politicized is for money. For example, a congressman with ties in the oil industry may be a lobbyist for them, and will deny man-made climate change, and try to rally support for oil companies. There are also many fake activist groups run by politicians and CEO’s of large companies, and these “activist groups” support their views of the politicized debate, as we saw in Merchants of Doubt in lecture.

An example of recent politicized science is Donald Trump’s plan to cut funding to NASA’s climate research. Climate change is widely accepted by the science community as being very real, and that humans have played a large role in contributing to it. Donald Trump