Scientific Conventions, Ethics and Legal Institutions

This article examines the use of epidemiology to evaluate Risks posed by toxic substances. Using illustrations drawn from an elaborate example, it argues that scientists applying usual conventions in doing statistical studies tend to ignore important normative issues

The Normative Nature of Risk Assessment: Features and Possibilities

Dr. Cranor argues that appreciating risk assessment to be permeated with normative presuppositions, in contrast with being primarily objective, opens up unforeseen possibilities for risk management

China After the Reform Era

China’s reform era is ending. Core factors that characterized it – political stability, ideological openness, and rapid economic growth – are unraveling. In part, this is the result of Beijing’s steadfast refusal to contemplate fundamental political reform. Since the early 1990s, this has fueled the rise of entrenched interests within the Communist Party itself. It has also contributed to the systematic underdevelopment of institutions of governance among state and society at large. Now, to address looming problems confronting the nation, Chinese leaders are progressively cannibalizing institutional norms and practices that have formed the bedrock of the regime\u27s stability in the post-Mao era

Science Courts, Evidentiary Procedures and Mixed Science-Policy Decisions

This paper analyzes the potential for science courts to address the social need to regulate human carcinogens and concludes that, on balance, it is not high. From this vantage point, Professor Cranor suggests desiderata for application in other areas where science courts might be used