POLS 346, Questions to Answer

Here are some questions students should be able to answer.

1. How do environmental values enter the policy process? Give at least one example of how institutions shape values, and at least one example that shows how an environmental actor pursues values.

2. Some problems are defined as ‘environmental’ (climate change, air quality) and others not (nuclear weapons, infectious diseases). Still others are recognized as having significant environmental consequences (energy, economic development) but are not primarily ‘environmental.’ What do our classification schemes about environmental policies tell you about our politics?

3. How does federalism shape environmental policy? What are the main incentives that states have to be more responsible environmental citizens in the federal system? Illustrate with examples from state regulatory institutions that seek to restore endangered salmon populations.
4. What determines the success of environmental interest groups? Your response should focus on (at a minimum) features of the issues groups seek to influence, institutions where decisions are made, and group tactics. Here is a framework for studying interest groups, based on student papers that looked at examples.
5. How important are presidents in the making of national environmental policy? Give examples from the Bush and Obama administrations.
6. Here is a model of studying congress in environmental policy areas. Show how the model is or isn’t useful in understanding a current issue, such as regulation of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
7. Describe how courts get involved in environmental policy—why do they get involved, what kinds of values tend to emerge from court decisions, what kinds of changes do they bring about?
8. The Gulf oil spill illustrates many of the challenges to effective environmental regulation. Describe them.
9. What are the major tradeoffs in requiring that administrative policy makers subject regulations to economic analysis? Are our policy processes receptive to recommendations that emerge from this analysis?
10. How does risk analysis affect the way we interpret environmental issues?
11. Define environmental justice. Is your definition widely shared, say, by groups advocating EJ, the EPA, etc.? Is environmental justice part of the environmental values pursued by most of the interest groups we have read about in the course? So?
12. Define sustainability. Are US politics responsive to values that that endorse sustainability? Why or why not?
13. What did the Greg Nickels visit to campus demonstrate to you about the possibilities and limits of local politics as a driver of environmental policies?
14. Is there a scientific consensus on human-induced global climate change? How has the issue of scientific consensus been contested these last ten years? What is the best case scenario for GCC? What is the worst case scenario for GCC? What are the chief obstacles toward effective policymaking on GCC?
15. In general, how effective are international organizations that enforce environmental agreements? Give an example that supports your generalization. What values appear to fare best in the major international policy making institutions?
16. What is the stakeholder model of environmental policymaking? What is its specific contribution to dealing with political conflict?
17. Within the US foreign policy community, international relations and security issues are described, more so than before, as having significant environmental features. Why? Do you see this recognized in our public debates about energy?
18. The authors of your primary text appear, most of the time, optimistic about the possibilities of policy development in their preferred direction. Do you agree their direction is preferred? Do you share their optimism?