Environmental Politics in Industrialized Nations

Desai, Uday, ed. 2002. Environmental Politicsand Policy in Industrialized Countries. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Schreurs, Miranda A. 2002. Environmental Politics in Japan, Germany, and the United States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Studies of global environmental politics consistently point out differences in policy and practice between developed and developing nation-states. The former acknowledge both domestic and global problems of the environment and in recent decades have moved environmental issues toward the center of national action agendas. Changes in public attitudes on the environment constrain leaders, as grass roots organizations and in many states green parties and movements pressure governments. New political institutions, particularly environmental ministries, focus state attention on issues, and because these nations have high levels of economic development, they possess the means to mitigate environmental degradation and take steps toward a sustainable future. In contrast, developing nations tend to lack resources, capable institutions, and civic associations motivated by environmental goals.

Notwithstanding the significance of the economic development variable in explaining variations of national environmental policies, other factors have impacts as well—for example, the degree of decentralization in administrative functions, electoral and political party institutions, amount of concentration in environmental agency functions, and character of business-government relations, among others. To the present, the role of these factors has been examined primarily in single or two-country studies, for example Broadbent's treatise on Japanese environmental politics¹ and Vogel's study of differences between environmental regulatory regimes in the US and Great Britain.² The two books examined in this review take the comparative study of environmental politics one large step further. They attempt systematic comparison of several cases drawn from the set of industrialized countries. In the process of identifying relevant variables and analyzing their impacts on environmental policy outcomes, the volumes also inform us of the limits and promises of comparative politics research on global environmental issues.

Uday Desai's Environmental Politics and Policy in Industrialized Countries has chapters on seven countries: the US (Michael Kraft), Canada (Glen Toner), Britain (John McCormick), Germany (Helmut Weidner), Italy (Rudolf Lewanski and Angela Liberatore), Australia (K. J. Walker), and Japan (Jeffrey Broadbent). It is a companion to Desai's edited book Ecological Policy and Politics in Developing Countries (1998) and part of the MIT Press series on "American and Comparative Environmental Policy."

Desai's introductory chapter discusses three aspects of environmental inquiry: the difference in developed states' environmental policy histories, policy processes, and policy performances. The chapter authors, all of whom are experienced observers of environmental policy and politics, treat these three areas, but the organizing questions leave them ample space to discuss other matters specific to the national environment. Thus, the US chapter also emphasizes pluralistic politics, while the chapter on Canada devotes attention to the lack of horizontal integration of policy-making institutions. The survey of Britain notes several policy contradictions linked to an ad hoc approach to problems. In distinction, the discussion of Germany describes its regulatory approach and adoption of the precautionary principle, cooperation with industry, and the polluter-pays system. In Italy, center-periphery cleavages and the fragmented political culture appear as major factors explaining the environmental policy implementation deficit. Australia's history as a settler colony and then its pursuit of statist development created conditions for "pressure pluralism," limiting formation of long-term progressive environmental policy. Finally, the "ruling triad" of bureaucracy, LDP, and business elites in Japan first opposed environmental protection goals and then reversed direction, appropriating a large role for the state in environmental planning.

The concluding chapter by Desai presents a useful comparative analysis. Although four of the seven states are federal, Desai notes that federal-state (or provincial) relations differ. The cooperative relationships between the German national government and the Länder contrast with the sometimes adversarial relations of American states (or Canadian provinces) and their respective federal governments. Business-government relations differ as well. Strong business/trade associations in the US (and to a somewhat lesser extent in Canada) contrast [End...