The environment as a 7
policy problem
Contents
Core characteristics of the environment as a policy problem 174
Public goods 174
Transboundary problems 176
Complexity and uncertainty 177
Irreversibility 179
Temporal and spatial variability 179
Administrative fragmentation 180
Regulatory intervention 180
The traditional policy paradigm 181
Political obstacles to change 182
The power of producers 182
Administrative fragmentation 186
Achieving policy change 190
Agenda-setting 190
The advocacy coalition framework 194
Policy communities and exogenous change 196
The rise and fall (and rise again?) of nuclear power 198
Conclusion 204
Further reading 205
Key issues
◗ What are the core characteristics of environmental problems?
◗ What theories and models explain environmental policymaking?
◗ Where does power lie in environmental policymaking?
◗ What are the structural and institutional barriers to policy change?
◗ Why does policy change?