AbstractThe deficiencies of provisions for incorporating the advice of technical experts into the formulation of public policy in the USA have much more to do with process than with organizational structure. The key problem is the accommodation of the cultures of science and of politics in ways that preserve the values inherent in their differences as well as dealing with their interdependence. But well constructed and managed advisory bodies can not only help the nation take advantage of the knowledge available to its citizens, but can help empower those citizens to hold their public representatives accountable and strengthen democracy.