The literature tells us that the public forms biased opinion on policy issues, owing to a variety of priors. Among these priors, political values have been shown to mediate public perception of the expert knowledge that informs policy decisions. The literature also tells us that biased opinion can change,
with several studies showing that the public reacts to various cues and issue framings. In other words, public opinion can learn. What about experts? Is their opinion as vulnerable as that of the general public to political priors? Are experts, like the public, capable of learning? This paper provides answers to these questions, drawing from a unique survey of Quebec experts in the rehabilitation of contaminated soil. These experts have a key role in the choice of technologies used to remove contaminants from land polluted by past economic activities.
