Structure and operation of the National Policy Councils for Science, Technology and Innovation: The Cases of Chile and Spain

Abstract

In the past decades, National Policy Councils for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) have been deployed worldwide to aid governments in steering their efforts on STI and their countries’ progress. Growing demands for social participation, representation and legitimation in the science, technology and innovation policy arenas are portraying this type of organisation as key for the definition of future paths for development. Moreover, councils have slowly gained policy and scholarly attention to better coordinate and enhance the strategic approach to STI. However, little evidence has supported the best fit of the council for every country's governance configuration. Building on this direction, this chapter presents an exploratory and descriptive comparative qualitative case analysis of two diverse cases: the Chilean and Spanish councils. The results suggest that the higher the council's capacities, the harder it is to comply with its mandate and demands; and the organisation’s learning cultural development seems to help with fitting expectations and outcomes