ABSTRACT
Good ideas are powerful political tools (J.Smith, 1991). For more than 100 years, experts have tried to figure out ways to bring good ideas to bear on policymaking. In 1893, Lester Ward, a self-taught man who worked his way up to the chief paleontologist in the U.S. Geological Survey, envisioned legislatures operating like laboratories, with scientists directly and deliberately influencing lawmaking. John Commons, a central figure in Wisconsin policymaking in the early 1900s, concurred that science could benefit policymaking. Unlike Ward, however, Commons believed that the approach of experts should be much less visible and more educational. In his 30 years teaching economics and working primarily on state legislation in Wisconsin, he perceived the intellectual as a behind-the-scenes advisor to political leaders who were free to accept or reject his expert advice (J.Smith, 1991).
