Publisher's Synopsis
The world's industrialized nations are the major consumers of the Earth's resources and major sources of environmental pollution. Environmental protection plays an important role in the politics of most of these nations. Although a large and growing body of literature exists on environmental problems and policies in the developed world, most of it focuses on government policy in individual nations. A smaller body of literature compares specific environmental policies in two or more nations. Taking a broader appoach, this book examines the environmental policy process in seven major industrialized nations: Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Individual country chapters discuss the country's major environmental problems, evolution of environmental policy, determinants of environmental politics and policy, and interplay between politics and policy, as well as suggestions for developing effective policy.;The book discusses the actors, values and interests that shape policies. An institutional perspective provides a common framework, with a focus on three kinds of institutions: business and industry, federal and provincial governments, and international organizations. The final chapter offers hypotheses concerning institutions and environmental policy as a basis for further research.
