Chronic Uncertainty and BSE Communications: Lessons from (and Limits of) Decision Theory

In terms of public debate, mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE) comes close to being the AIDS crisis the UK never had. Described by John Major as the most testing problem of his time as prime minister, BSE is an important potential health risk, but is even more significant as a symbolic public occasion which society uses to work through how it wants such issues handled. Although openness and litigiousness are not defining characteristics of the UK context (both are on the rise), there are several quite general lessons that emerge from the country’s experience since BSE became an issue of public concern in 1986.