Better Environmental Policy Studies

by Susskind, Lawrence; Jain, Ravi K.; Martyniuk, Andrew O.

• ISBN13: 9781559638708
• ISBN10: 1559638702
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-07-01
• Publisher: Island Pr

Summary

Environmental policy studies commissioned by government agencies or other stakeholders can play a vital role in environmental decisionmaking; they provide much-needed insight into policy options and specific recommendations for action. But the results of even the most rigorous studies are frequently misappropriated or misunderstood and are as likely to confuse an issue as they are to clarify it.Better Environmental Policy Studiesexplores this problem, as it considers the shortcomings of current approaches to policy studies and presents a pragmatic new approach to the subject. Reviewing five cases that are widely regarded as the most effective policy studies to have been conducted in the United States in the last few decades, the authors present a comprehensive guide to the concepts and methods required for conducting effective policy studies. The book: describes and explains the conventional approach to policy studies and its shortcoming presents the history, impacts, and common elements of five successful policy studies offers an in-depth look at the different tools and techniques of policy analysis extends the concepts and principles of successful policy studies to their potential uses in the international arenaBetter Environmental Policy Studiespresents a practical, battle-tested approach to overcoming the obstacles to formulating effective environmental policy. It is an invaluable resource for students and faculty in departments of environmental studies, public policy and administration, and planning, as well as for professional policy analysts and others involved with making decisions and mediating disputes over environmental issues.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
Setting the Stage	1	(3)
Conducting Policy Studies	4	(3)
The Conventional Approach to Environmental Policy Studies	7	(10)
How Environmental Policy Studies Are Usually Done	8	(3)
Define the Issue	8	(1)
Choose a Consultant	9	(1)
Write a Contract	9	(1)
Perform the Analysis	10	(1)
Submit a Draft Report	10	(1)
Produce and Disseminate a Final Report	10	(1)
The Connection Between Policy Studies and Policy Making	11	(3)
Comments on the Conventional Approach	14	(3)
How Environmental Policy Studies Can Be Used Effectively	17	(48)
Six Effective Policy Studies	17	(1)
The ``Uses'' of Effective Policy Studies	18	(2)
The Studies and Their ``Uses''	20	(41)
The Delaney Paradox and Pesticide Regulation	20	(11)
Lead in Gasoline and the Reduction of Lead Levels in Ambient Air	31	(8)
Complex Cleanup and the Environmental Legacy of the Nuclear Weapons Complex	39	(5)
Reducing Risk and Setting Environmental Priorities at the EPA	44	(4)
AARC and New Farm Products Research and Commercialization	48	(8)
The Spotted Owl and Ecosystem Management in the Pacific Northwest	56	(5)
The Challenges	61	(1)
Concluding Remarks	62	(3)
How Policy Studies Should Be Organized	65	(24)
Six Organizational Tasks	65	(19)
Selecting and Using Experts	66	(4)
Shaping the Relationship Between Sponsors and Experts	70	(6)
Choosing the Right Institutional Auspices	76	(1)
Reviewing Policy Study Results	77	(3)
Learning from Policy Studies	80	(2)
Setting the Policy Research Agenda	82	(2)
A Look in the Rearview Mirror	84	(3)
Concluding Remarks	87	(2)
Methods and Roles of Environmental Policy Studies	89	(24)
Approaches to Policy Studies	90	(10)
Systems Analysis	91	(4)
Decision Theory	95	(1)
Institutional Rational Choice Theory	96	(1)
Policy Analysis Within the Political Context	97	(3)
New Theories: Post-Positivist Participatory Approaches to Policy Analysis	100	(4)
Participatory Policy Analysis	100	(1)
Participatory Expertise	101	(2)
Critical Theory	103	(1)
Beyond Participation--Networks, Coalitions, and Communities	104	(7)
Policy Networks	104	(3)
Advocacy Coalition Framework	107	(1)
Epistemic Communities	108	(3)
Concluding Remarks	111	(2)
Rethinking the Choice of Methods for Policy Analysis	113	(16)
Analytical Methods	113	(3)
Lead in Gasoline	115	(1)
The Delaney Paradox	115	(1)
Rhetorical Methods	116	(2)
Reducing Risk	118	(1)
Process Methods	118	(1)
AARC	118	(1)
Spotted Owl	119	(1)
Putting It All Together: The Issue of Chlorinated Organic Compounds Revisited	119	(2)
Enhancing the Interplay of Theory and Practice	121	(7)
Knowledge and Learning in Environmental Policy Making	121	(1)
Role of Science and Technical Knowledge	122	(2)
Policy Studies Can Often Raise More Questions	124	(1)
There Is Still Great Room for Progress	124	(4)
Concluding Remarks	128	(1)
International Perspectives	129	(26)
What We Think We Know	129	(7)
Regional/National Environmental Issues with International Implications	130	(2)
Changing Priorities	132	(1)
International Environmental Negotiation	133	(1)
Policy Study Implications	134	(2)
Global Warming	136	(8)
Policy Options	137	(1)
United States Global Change Research Program	138	(1)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change	139	(1)
Kyoto Conference	140	(2)
Interrelationship of National and International Efforts and the Role of Technology	142	(2)
Genetically Modified Foods	144	(9)
Transgenic Crops	145	(1)
Policy Issues	146	(3)
National Policy	149	(1)
International Attention	150	(3)
Concluding Remarks	153	(2)
Appendix A--National Academy of Sciences National Research Council Report Review Guidelines	155	(4)
Acronyms	159	(4)
References	163	(12)
About the Authors	175	(2)
Index	177