Corporate America and Environmental Policy: How Often Does Business Get Its Way?

by Sheldon Kamieniecki

Overview

This book adds to the environmental politics and policy literature by conducting a comprehensive investigation of business influence in agenda building and environmental policymaking in the United States over time. As part of this investigation, the author presents an analysis of six cases in which private firms were involved in disputes concerning pollution control and natural resource management.

In addition to determining how much business interests influence environmental and natural resource policy, the book tests possible explanations for their level of success in shaping the government's agenda and policy. The study offers a general conceptual framework for analyzing the influence of corporate America over environmental policymaking. The research then explores how much firms have influenced Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and certain natural resource agencies, and the courts on environmental and natural issues since the beginning of the environmental movement in 1970. No other study has examined the ability of business to influence environmental policy in all three branches of government and in such detail.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804748155
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	02/13/2006
Edition description:	1
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Sheldon Kamieniecki is Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern California. His edited books include Controversies in Environmental Policy (1986), Environmental Politics in the International Arena (1993), and Flashpoints in Environmental Policymaking (1997), winner of the 1998 Lynton K. Caldwell Award.

Editorial Reviews

"There is no doubt that business plays a significant role in environmental policy making and implementation, and rightly so. Yet there is little empirical data on why business groups take the positions they do, how they affect media coverage and public policy development, and the degree to which they affect decision making. These are critically important questions about the role of business in environmental policy, and Corporate America and Environmental Policy significantly advances our understanding of them."

University of Wisconsin, Green Bay - Michael Kraft

"Kamieniecki's book is more thorough and inclusive than any other work on the link between business and environmental policy. The extent of influence of business groups in environmental and natural resource policy is a highly contested area, and the author's analysis is quite balanced."

University of California, Irvine - Helen Ingram

"There is no doubt that business plays a significant role in environmental policy making and implementation, and rightly so. Yet there is little empirical data on why business groups take the positions they do, how they affect media coverage and public policy development, and the degree to which they affect decision making. These are critically important questions about the role of business in environmental policy, and Corporate America and Environmental Policy significantly advances our understanding of them."—Michael Kraft, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay


"Kamieniecki's book is more thorough and inclusive than any other work on the link between business and environmental policy. The extent of influence of business groups in environmental and natural resource policy is a highly contested area, and the author's analysis is quite balanced."—Helen Ingram, University of California, Irvine

From the Publisher