How Should Scientists Talk to a Politician?

 
Janet Stemwedel refers us to a video on how scientists should talk to politicians [Retired congresscritter offers communication tips to scientists].

The congresscritter in question being Sherwood Boehlert, who represented New York's 24th Congressional district (1983-2007), and chaired the House Science Committee (2001-2007). Boehlert offers this advice in a video called "Speaking for Science: Bringing Your Message to Policymakers," available for download from the American Chemical Society website.*

The video presents two scenarios in which a group of scientists meets with their Congressional representative (who happens to be a member of the House Science Committee, played by Boehlert). As you might guess, the idea is to contrast the effective meeting with the disastrous one.

As you might guess, the effective way to talk to a politician about science is to be brief and to the point and avoid all that sciency stuff that only confuses everyone. You need to stop trying to explain science to the staff member and concentrate on what's in it for the politician.

I'm not naive. I know that this is the way to be effective when you're asking a politician to do something for science. However, I'm enough of an idealist to dream about a future where scientists would make videos explaining to politicians how they should behave when prominent scientists make an effort to come by their office in an attempt to teach them some science so they can do their jobs better.

Why do politicians always think that everyone has to play by their rules? I thought they were there to serve the people, not the other way around.

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