Environmental Politics: Interest Groups, the Media, and the Making of Policy / Edition 1

by Norman Miller

Overview

At every stage, environmental policy is the result of the combat of stakeholders interested in, and affected by, the problem being addressed and the range of possible solutions. The combatants include any or all of the following: the federal government, environmental advocacy groups, and business, the media, the scientific community, think tanks, NGOs of every stripe, trade associations and professional organizations, and even state and local governments, each of whom have their own interests in the resulting policy.

Environmental Politics: Interest Groups, the Media, and the Making of Policy discusses political battles over the environment from ground level - as they are fought in legislative chambers, the daily newspaper, on television, and, increasingly, on the Internet. The text explores environmental politics as a clash of interests, not ideologies, and environmental policy as a result of the reconciliation of those interests.

The author covers not only the conventional aspects of the policymaking process but more recent and less recognized elements and developments such as:

Proliferation of legislative riders and monument designations as major environmental strategies

Evolving role of the media, from science popularizer to agenda setter

Growing influence on both Congress and the public of conservative and libertarian foundations and think tanks

Devolution of environmental power from the Federal to state governments

Metamorphosis of EPA in a business-driven regulatory revolution

Effect of globalization on US environmental policy

Newly emerging role of the precautionary principle in marrying science and politics

Increasing role of the Internet in promoting populist issues and promoting the decentralization of the environmental power structure

No other book covers the politics of the environment the way this one does. Written by an expert with 25 years of experience in environmental policymaking, Environmental Politics: Interest Groups, the Media, and the Making of Policy gives you an insider's view of how policies are forged. By examining these issues through an interest group lens, this book not only accounts for what policies have been adopted but also shows how you can influence policy and effect change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566705523
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/31/2001
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Norman Miller

Table of Contents

The Changing Landscape of Environmental Politics. Legislation: Leveling the Playing Field and Leveraging the Process. Environmental Regulation and the Reinvention of EPA. The Media Business and Environmental Politics. Uncertain Science — Uncertain Politics. State and Local Governments: The "Other" Interest Groups. The Shifting Tides of Environmental Advocacy. The Greening of Business: Politics for Profits. Global Pressures and Domestic Environmental Politics. On-line Activism and the New Environmental Politics.

Editorial Reviews

"…likely to illuminate the policy-making process much better than standard texts…As a person who regularly teaches environmental policy courses at several universities, I believe that this book [will] quickly fill a need…for a better approach to presenting politics and policy. I also like the combination of a standard textbook and companion casebooks, which will allow this text to be used in a wide variety of subjects…I would personally assign and use this text for my next environmental policy course."
-Michael Catania, Esq., former Deputy Commissioner, New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection

From the Publisher