Telecommunications and the future of democracy: preliminary report on the first U.S. Citizens's Panel

Based on the success of a Citizens' Panel pilot project, this brief article discusses the potential of Citizens' Panels in being involved in the decision-making processes of U.S. science and technology institutions. The author gives a summary of the pilot project, which was concerned with issues surrounding telecommunications. He then discusses a number of weaknesses such as lack of time and money and unvaried expert opinions which, he believes, could be easily overcome in future projects.