Abstract
This chapter builds upon the frameworks demonstrated in the first two chapters by delving into the process of policymaking in the United States We provide an overview of public policy through an examination of the stages heuristic model as a gateway to understanding how policy is made. Then we review the shortcomings of the stages model in understanding environmental policy, and introduce other policy models (e.g., policy streams model; advocacy coalition framework), along with specific examples of environmental policy to help illustrate how the process of making environmental policy. We use these different models to demonstrate that environmental policy is not often made in the neat, linear fashion many would think; rather, it is a complex process that is often messy, vague, and unpredictable. We update this chapter to include a more robust discussion of policy failure, as it is a particularly salient topic in today’s political landscape. After demonstrating the complexity of the policymaking process, we then consider the challenge of federalism in crafting policy.
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Notes
- 1.
Such a claim, however, is contentious in the realm of environmental regulation as there are countless examples of where environmental goals do not jeopardize economic goals, even though society oftentimes views these aims as mutually exclusive. The use of this debate here is more for example purposes rather than advocacy of one view over another.
Suggested Resources
Readings and Websites
Birkland, Thomas A. An Introduction to the Policy Process: Theories, Concepts, and Models of Public Policy Making. New York: Routledge, 2016.
Gibbs, Lois Marie. Love Canal and the Birth of the Environmental Health Movement. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010.
Kingdon, John W. Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies. 2nd edition. New York: Longman, 2011.
Kraft, Michael E., and Scott R. Furlong. Public Policy: Politics, Analysis and Alternatives. 2nd edition. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2007.
Rinfret, Sara R., Denise Scheberle, and Michelle C. Pautz. Public Policy: A Concise Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage/CQ Press, 2019.
Schneider, Anne L., and Helen Ingram. Policy Design for Democracy. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1997.
Stone, Deborah. Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. 3rd edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012.
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Schoolhouse Rock: America Rock. 1973. American Broadcasting Company. DVD.
War on the EPA. 2017. PBS Frontline. DVD.
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Rinfret, S.R., Pautz, M.C. (2019). The Messy Process of Making Environmental Policy. In: US Environmental Policy in Action. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11316-2_3
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