Science and Politics in the Era of Post-Truth: Crisis of science, evidence-based policy making and situation of Japan

Abstract

This paper describes science and politics in the era of post-truth. The post-truth politics looks as if it ignores the scientific evidence. However, anti-scientific U.S. Republican has intended to put emphasis on the scientific evidence. Once Republican's war on science insisted on anti-science. Now, Republican emphasizes ‘sound science' providing an evidence with higher probative value than science. The post-truth politics tends to make full use of the scientific-evidence-like rhetoric to compete the evidence-based policy making. The anti-scientific ideology attacks the irreproducibility issues and dysfunction of quality assurance of science, while it attacks science with an immitated rhetoric of the incertitude of science and the science for policy-making in order to remove science's influence on policies. Weak points are attacked. It is difficult for science to counterattack, because science community is a root cause of the ‘crisis of science.' Science community ought to secure social trust and to reconstruct the governance of science.