The Political and Institutional Setting of Environmental Policy

 

  1. What effect does the fact that United States is a pluralist democracy have on environmental planning and policy in America?
  2. What types of interest groups influence environmental policy in the U.S.; and what are their respective strengths and weaknesses?
  3. Characterize and describe the stages of the "policy-making process".
  4. What is the role of the judicial system in the area of environmental policy in the U.S.?
  5. What is the role of the legislative branch of government w.r.t. environmental policy in the U.S.?
  6. What is the role of the executive branch of government w.r.t. environmental policy in the U.S.?
  7. Explain what is meant by the statement "policy is made incrementally" in America. Summarize "incrementalism" as it relates to environmental policy; and discuss its impact on the way environmental policy is made in the U.S.
  8. How are policy making and its implementation in the U.S. decentralized?
  9. How does "short-term bias affect environmental policy?
  10. What ideological bias is present in environmental policy in the U.S.?
  11. What role has "crisis planning" played in the environmental policy arena in the U.S.?
  12. How does the "private nature" of environmental policy making impact environmental policy in the U.S.?