Also available on Charlie's Angel: project.

Social Good: Carnegie Commission

In their report Enabling the Future: Linking Science and Technology to Societal Goals, the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government takes a "laundry list" approach to social goals.  The commission basically lists different societal goods that relate to science and technology under four major headings, and then attempts to find policy "blindspots" and better define the role of organizations within the government in the process of setting national goals (the need for this better definition of roles is one of the conclusions of this project as well).

The goals that they list are:

• Quality of Life, Health, Human Development, and Knowledge

  • Education
  • Personal and public health and safety
  • Personal development and self-realization
  • Exploration and expansion of knowledge
  • High standard of living
  • Creation and maintenance of civic culture
  • Cultural pluralism and community harmony
  • Population stabilization

   

• A Resilient, Sustainable, and Competitive Economy

  • Economic growth
  • Full employment and workforce training
  • International competitiveness
  • Modernized communications and transportation
  • International cooperation and action

   

• Environmental Quality and Sustainable use of Natural Resources

  • Worldwide sustainable development
  • Resource exploration, extraction, conservation, and recycling
  • Energy production and efficiency in use
  • Environmental quality and protection
  • Provisions for public recreation
  • Maintenance and enhancement of productivity of biosphere
  • Maintenance of urban infrastructure
  • Energy security and strategic materials

   

• Personal, National, and International Security

  • Personal security and social justice
  • National and international security
  • Individual freedom
  • Worldwide human rights

   

*This list is taken directly from Box 2 of the report.

This report obviously provides the perfect counterpoint to an economic evaluation of the social good, as it is entirely focused on social goals that are founded on our impressions of what the social good is independent of other analyses.  The one influence on the commission's list of social goals is the desire for the list to be pertinent to science and technology.  This has both the effect of encouraging the list to speak to preconceived issues in science and technology policy as opposed to being solely based on a conception of the social good and at the same time keeps the list from becoming too philosophical and thus difficult or inappropriate to apply to policy decisions.

Next: APT.