"Myth, mask, shield, and sword": Dr. John H. Marburger III's rhetoric of neutral science for the nation

Abstract

This article analyzes presidential science advisor John H. Marburger III's use of an idealized vision of science in his February 14, 2005, address on science policy in the context of allegations of Bush administration science politicization. The authors contend that Marburger's speech is both a performative enactment and an active construction of a linear model of science supported by an entrepreneurial vision of science policy. Although incompatible with the actual conduct of science, this view is rhetorically advantageous for Marburger and the present administration in that it both encourages the demarcation of science from politics in ways that serve elite interests and allows for the negotiation of role tensions inherent in the science advisor position. © 2008 Sage Publications.