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Regional Environmental Policies, Environmental Conservation & Protection Policy, U.S. Politics & Government - General & Miscellaneous
Corporate Power And The Environment by George A. Gonzalez — book cover

Corporate Power And The Environment

by George A. Gonzalez
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Overview

Environmental policy is broadly viewed as an oasis of democracy, unspoiled by crass capitalism and undominated by corporate interests. This book counters that view. The focus of Corporate Power and the Environment focuses on how U.S. economic elites—corporate decisionmakers and other individuals of substantial wealth—shape the content and implementation of U.S. environmental policy to their economic and political benefit. The author uses the management of the national forests and national parks, as well as wilderness preservation policies and federal clean air policies, as case studies to show corporate power in action in even the 'purest' of policy arenas.

Synopsis

Environmental policy is broadly viewed as an oasis of democracy, unspoiled by crass capitalism and undominated by corporate interests. This book counters that view. The focus of Corporate Power and the Environment is on how U.S. economic elites—corporate decisionmakers and other individuals of substantial wealth—shape the content and implementation of U.S. environmental policy to their economic and political benefit. The author uses the management of the national forests and national parks, as well as wilderness preservation policies and federal clean air policies, as case studies to show corporate power in action in even the _purest_ of policy arenas.

About the Author, George A. Gonzalez

George A. Gonzalez is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Miami at Coral Gables, and coeditor of Flashpoints in Environmental Policymaking: Controversies in Achieving Sustainability.

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Editorials

Political Science Quarterly

Refreshing in its unusual criticism of main stream pluralist assumptions about environmental politics and policy.

American Political Science Review

Lucid and well-written.

Environment

Corporate Power and the Environment makes for very interesting reading due to its extensive use of congressional records, newspaper accounts, memoirs, personal correspondence, and other primary materials.

Journal of Politics

This study does succeed in several important respects. Its presentation of both theoretical and historical material is clear, making the book suitable for use as a companion text in undergraduate public policy or environmental policy classes. It offers a wealth of information about the formation of policy regimes in a variety of environmental and natural resource policy arenas, which, taken together, mount a persuasive case that environmental policy is no "oasis of democracy", free from corporate influence. Of particular importance is its discussion of the effect of policy-planning networks on environmental policy formation. This is a subject that has received scant attention in previous literature and is justly emphasized here.

Environmental Politics

Gonzalez's text provides a dense and readable account of some of the early influences that shaped the US Forestry Service. A competent and concise introduction to the topic.

Corporate Power and The Environment

An excellent and fascinating study.

Organization and Environment

The empirical work here is excellent, with strong case studies of forestry, national parks, and the Clean Air Act of 1990.

Political Studies Review

Gonzalez's examples are fascinating and informative.

Sheldon Kamieniecki

This thoughtful and provocative study does an excellent job explaining how economic elites have significantly influenced American environmental policymaking over time. Professor Gonzalez's book challenges traditional arguments by pluralists and offers new and exciting insights into how environmental policy is really made in the U.S. This book is must-reading for all students in public policy.

Capitalism

Corporate Power and the Environmentprovides an important first step in the application of critical theories of the state to environmental scholarship. As such, it is an essential addition to curriculums on environmental policy and environmental history.

Perspectives on Political Science

Recommended for students in public policy and for anyone interested in environmental issues and the policymaking process.

Book Details

Published
April 1, 2001
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Pages
160
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780742510845

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