This research project analyzes voting behavior on stem cells, biofuels, and medical marijuana to ascertain what is important to citizens and legislators as they enact policies (citizens through the initiative process and legislators by roll call votes) on controversial scientific issues. It is found that political beliefs, personal values, and, in the case of legislators, considerations of electoral consequences are the predominant determinants of vote choice on the issues studied, indicating that even the esteemed standing of science in American society cannot shield such matters from politicization. The process by which science policies are enacted is no more unique than any other issue that is debated in a political setting.The results of the analyses carried out in this research project suggest that initiative voting behavior might be more complex than what scholars have indicated. In light of what is presented here it cannot be claimed that partisanship is always the most significant determinant of how someone chooses to vote on an initiative. The current consensus on this topic must be called into question pending the possibility that a number of other issues might exist for which partisanship is a lesser or non-significant factor when other variables are considered.The findings of this research project also suggest that the public choice theory of legislative behavior may have significant relevance to understanding the actions of legislators. The proposition that legislators are most likely to do that which benefits them most, whether it be for their professional advancement or for their own personal ideological satisfaction, is a useful starting point for understanding what has been found in this research project. At least for the types of issues that are studied (and, as will be noted, there is little reason to expect these policies are somehow unique), constituents seem to be either a means to an end or, in instances where their support or lack of support does not provide a clear personal benefit to a politician, a trivial consideration.
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