Comparative Environmental Politics

While we cannot hope to provide definitive answers to these questions, as political scientists we proceed from the assumption that much can be learned through the application of the existing tools of comparative political analysis. In an era of globalization, the authors argue that nation-states still make the critical decisions affecting the global environment. Nations decide whether to participate in international environmental agreements, and governments make the policies that implement those agreements. Therefore, understanding the global environmental future requires an understanding of the domestic circumstances and national performance of states. This volume looks at the ways countries vary politically and assesses the impact on responses to global environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and trans-boundary air pollution. The book explores five major topics: state-society relations; environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs); Green parties and environmental movements; institutions of government and policy-making; variations in the capacities of states to protect the environment; and national responses to global problems. It compares and contrasts rich and poor nations, large and small countries, liberal democracies and authoritarian states. While we cannot hope to provide definitive answers to these questions, as political scientists we proceed from the assumption that much can be learned through the application of the existing tools of comparative political analysis. Two of the incidents occurred in developing countries (one a parliamentary democracy, the other a democratizing presidential system), and one occurred in a highly developed presidential democracy. All three countries are federal systems, with multiple layers of environmental regulation, although sub-national government seems to be better institutionalized and more effective in the United States. Only one of the incidents occurred within the sovereign territory of a country with an effective federal environmental protection agency and highly transparent policy and judicial processes. None of the three nation-states involved has a strong “green” political party. And the affected communities in all three cases remain dissatisfied with the outcomes to varying degrees. What can we make of these observations? Is there a systematic relationship between them (or any other political, social, cultural or economic factors) and the responses to environmental crises by nation-states? To answer these questions a more systematic analysis of the attendant political processes is needed. Only then can we suggest whether hope or despair is a more appropriate reaction. 1. 2 Global Environmental Issues Since the 1960s, environmental issues have entered the agendas of most nation-states. Pollution of land, air, and water have endangered ecosystems and public health, and called for a governmental response.

Combining the theoretical tools of comparative politics with the substantive concerns of environmental policy, experts explore responses to environmental problems across nations and political systems How do different societies respond politically to environmental problems around the globe? Answering this question requires systematic, cross-national comparisons of political institutions, regulatory styles, and state-society relations. The field of comparative environmental politics approaches this task by bringing the theoretical tools of comparative politics to bear on the substantive concerns of environmental policy. This book outlines a comparative environmental politics framework and applies it to concrete, real-world problems of politics and environmental management. After a comprehensive review of the literature exploring domestic environmental politics around the world, the book provides a sample of major currents within the field, showing how environmental politics intersects with such topics as the greening of the state, the rise of social movements and green parties, European Union expansion, corporate social responsibility, federalism, political instability, management of local commons, and policymaking under democratic and authoritarian regimes. It offers fresh insights into environmental problems ranging from climate change to water scarcity and the disappearance of tropical forests, and it examines actions by state and nonstate actors at levels from the local to the continental. The book will help scholars and policymakers make sense of how environmental issues and politics are connected around the globe, and is ideal for use in upper-level undergraduateand graduate courses.