Inclusive deliberation and scientific expertise: precaution, diversity and transparency in the governance of risk

There is growing interest in many industrialised nations in more 'deliberative and inclusionary processes' (DIPs) for the governance of technological risks. This increasing interest is motivated by diminishing public confidence in traditional expert-based and quantitative approaches. The mainstream response in academic and policy circles is to explain this diminishing public confidence in social and cultural terms, rather than through examining existing limitations in expert risk science. By focusing on problems of risk governance that lie 'out there' in society, movements towards more inclusive deliberation may reduce friction with powerful institutional and disciplinary vested interests.