The Cochlear Implant Controversy: Lessons Learned for Using Anticipatory Governance to Address Societal Concerns of Nano-scale Neural Interface Technologies

A shortcoming of public policy, according to Jeffery Greene (2005), is that it tends to be reactive and not proactive. That is to say, public policies tend towards addressing looming and existent public problems rather than preventing or foreseeing and circumventing future public problems. While the “reactive” nature of public policy might be contested in some scholarly or professional circles it is safe to say that the prevailing public policy making structures in modern democracies are often more inclined to respond to public problems rather than attempt to anticipate, circumvent, or prevent them.