How the Competitiveness Initiative Came About

摘要

To many physical scientists, the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) announced this month by President George W. Bush may seem like manna from heaven: It would double over 10 years the combined $9.5 billion budgets of the National Science Foundation (NSF), core programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Office of Science at the Department of Energy (DOE), starting with a $910 million boost in 2007 (Science, 10 February, p. 762). But it has more earthly political roots. In addition to signaling the Bush Administration's support for basic research in the physical sciences, the initiative provides a window on how this Administration makes science policy.