The Past Can Be the Key to the Present: Lessons from J.W. Powell’s Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Policy Making
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Publication Date
2008
Publication Title
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
Abstract
Public policy can easily require 100 years, including long periods of lassitude followed by brief bursts of transformation. Elections provide the necessary but not sufficient conditions for policy innovation, also required is harmonic demographic change in society, the economy, and education. John Wesley Powell's Report on the Lands of the Arid Regions of the United States delivered to the Secretary of Interior in April 1878 is a prototype of scientific influence on the public policy process.
The policy status quo challenged by Powell's report was built on the myths of Western migration tied to the public ideal of private land ownership. Powell's immediate success was the creation of the U.S. Geological Survey, consolidating the independent surveys and allowing scientific advice to be efficiently organized and in service of the public good. His broader scientific advice went unheeded by the entrenched economic interests served by public lands laws, even with a newly elected reform minded President and legislature.
Progressive politics brought like minded modern men to government service. The fight against corruption and waste was waged effectively against the General Land Office at the beginning of the twentieth century. The influence of scientific research grew as conservation became widely adopted in policy circles. The growth of interest groups and agencies around conservation principles reinforced scientific influence through mid century when iron triangles unresponsive to policy innovation ossified.
Powell's policy recommendations for public management of resources were consolidated in the executive through the early twentieth century, and were finally adopted as national policy by Congress in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
Recommended Citation
McCurdy, Karen M..
2008.
"The Past Can Be the Key to the Present: Lessons from J.W. Powell’s Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Policy Making."
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 40 (6): 498: Geological Society of America.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/poli-sci-facpubs/332
Copyright
© Copyright 2008 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.
