The laboratory of public debate: understanding the acceptability of stem cell research

After an extensive period of public controversy, the Danish parliament legalised stem cell research on ‘spare’ embryos in 2003. This paper argues that this legalisation was dependent on a perception of acceptability among the public and explores how public debate can serve a ‘performatory function’ in establishing such a situation of perceived legitimacy. The intention of this paper, however, is not to examine the Danish controversies in order to unravel the substantial ethico-political issues in the governance of stem cell research, but rather to understand the specific processes through which the formation of public opinion has contributed to the shaping of the acceptability of stem cell research. The paper analyses the various constructions of legitimate voices and their representation in the policy process and demonstrates that the framing of representation changed during the policy process. This change in framing made it possible to obtain a compromise, and can therefore be seen as a necessary precondition for the decision to permit stem cell research.