TECHNOLOGY-ASSESSMENT IN THE US STATE LEGISLATURES

With the demise of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and reass ertion of slate roles in R&D, the future of legislative technology ass essment in the United States may indeed reside in the states. This art icle reviews the history of science and technology advice to state leg islatures and, based on a survey of 50 states and field work including 185 interviews in 11 states, describes the status of the provision of technical information and analysis to state legislatures by Legislati ve staff, committees, and inter-branch and inter-sectoral organization s. The article argues that these sources perform a thin form of techno logy assessment for state legislatures. It concludes by recommending w ays in which state legislatures might enhance their performance by ado pting a more self-conscious attitude toward their technology assessmen t role, by expanding participation, and looking to European technology assessment organizations as models. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.