In the 30 years SSTI has been in existence and the 85 years of concerted federal focus on scientific discover and innovation, the priority of public-private R&D investment has been overwhelmingly nonpartisan. A recent report form the Pew Research Center confirms the cold-war, global competitiveness arguments for U.S science and technology still hold sway across political parties, but fissures in who should pay and who should work on science and tech efforts are beginning to grow.
Over the past three years, public perception of the importance of global scientific and innovation leadership grew in importance according to the latest from Pew Research: the number of those who take this stand is up five percentage points since 2023, climbing to 91% of respondents. Partisan differences begin to emerge when Pew delved deeper.
When it comes to whether or not government investments in science are worthwhile, there is generally mutual agreement between people from the two political parties that this spending is worthwhile: More than eight-in-ten Americans (84%) say government investments in scientific research aimed at advancing knowledge are worthwhile, while only 15% say they are not worth the investments. Democrats are slightly more likely to say this spending is worthwhile. These findings are similar to what the Pew Research Center has found over the years.
However, “worthwhile” government spending is viewed differently than “essential” government spending. Pew found that while most Republicans view government spending on research as worthwhile, they are not as likely to consider this spending as essential. Fifty-four percent of Republicans said that private investment could do the job alone, without government investment, in contrast to 45% of Republicans who agree that government investment in research is essential for scientific progress. Only 21% of Democrats agree that private investment will ensure enough scientific progress is made, even without government investment, in contrast to 79% of Democrats who agree that government investment in research is essential for scientific progress.
In this latest survey, Pew asked how much four of the most common performers of R&D – colleges and universities, private companies, federal government agencies and charitable foundations – contribute to America’s scientific achievements. Most Democrats (71%) threw their support behind colleges and universities, while Republicans (56%) gave their largest vote of confidence to private companies. [NOTE: This week’s Useful Stats article, How do higher education institutions fund their R&D expenditures? explores how top institutions of higher education finance their R&D expenditures. Read the article here.]
SSTI reported on the 2023 Pew Research Center findings here.