Democratic Dilemmas In The Age Of Ecology

Environmental problems present democratic dilemmas. The problems are so large and so often pit localities and interest groups against each other that they challenge basic democratic institutions, particularly the ideal of citizen participation in society's choices. In this book, Daniel Press examines the conflict between environmental political thought and democratic theory and asks whether successful environmental protection is beyond the capabilities of democratic decisionmaking. Press introduces the primary debate in this confrontation as a choice between political centralization and decentralization. Do citizens faced with environmental crises tend to look first to a centralized leadership for solutions or do they tend to respond at a more local and grassroots level? What is the role of technical expertise in this process and how does it effect public participation in these matters? Do confrontations over environmental issues increase support for a more fully democratic decisionmaking process? Representing social, political, and economic challenges to democracy, these and other questions are then investigated empirically through analyses of case studies. Focusing on two recent controversies in the western United States, ancient-forest logging in Oregon and California and hazardous waste management in California, and drawing on in-depth interviews with individuals involved, Press clarifies the relationship between environmentalism and democracy and explores the characteristics of "new" democratic forms of environmental policymaking. Revealing a need for a more decentralized process and increased individual and collective action in response to environmental crises, Democratic Dilemmas in the Age of Ecology will be of interest to a wide range of audiences, from scholars concerned with applications of democratic theory, to activists and policymakers seeking to change or implement environmental policy.

A call for a balancing of economic, environmental, and social concerns in the age of global economic integration.

What is the optimal political framework for environmental reform - reform on a scale commensurate with the global ecological crisis? How adequate are liberal forms of parliamentary democracy to face the challenges posed? These are the questions pondered by the contributors to this volume.

In Democracy and the Claims of Nature, the leading thinkers in the fields of environmental, political, and social theory come together to discuss the tensions and sympathies of democratic ideals and environmental values. The prominent contributors reflect upon where we stand in our understanding of the relationship between democracy and the claims of nature. Democracy and the Claims of Nature bridges the gap between the often competing ideals of the two fields, leading to a greater understanding of each for the other.

Examining the relationship between environmental values and democratic politics, this collection of essays illustrates and analyzes the ways in which environmental problems pose difficulties for democratic decision-makers. These problems are shown to cross regional and national boundaries, involving complex social processes, patterns of loss and gain, and time scales which do not synchronize with electoral political systems. The contradiction between popular participation and environmental management is considered, as are the reforms needed to enable democratic systems to more efficiently handle environmental problems.

Governing for the Environment explores one of the dimensions of the value-knowledge system needed in any movement towards humane governance for the planet: the ecological sustainability and integrity of the Earth's environment. The book begins from the premise that whilst environmental knowledge and values have developed rapidly, their development must not overwhelm consideration of other core 'humane' values: peace, social justice, and human rights. The book's contributors explore a variety of ethical issues that must inform future global regulation of the Earth's environment.

Underlying current controversies about environmental regulation are shared concerns, divided interests and different ways of thinking about the earth and our proper relationship to it. This book brings together writings on nature and environment that illuminate thought and action in this realm.

Confronted with fallout from the environmental crisis, the average citizen tends to go this far and no further. But given half a chance and a bit of information, ordinary citizens are quite capable of saying--and doing--much more, as Adolf Gundersen persuasively demonstrates in this timely book. As interesting for its firsthand view of the democratic process as for its vision of environmental progress, The Environmental Promise of Deliberative Democracy offers hope for a heightened public engagement with the most pressing issue of our day. Gundersen states at the outset that most environmentalists do their cause a disservice by casting it in moral rather than political terms. The environmental crisis is a political crisis, he argues, and to address it, we must start thinking in clearer, more collective ways about environmental problems and solutions. To that end, he proposes an expansion of citizen deliberation, and suggests a practical plan for realizing this ideal at the very heart of our political system. Though "deliberation" has become a rallying cry among political theorists, few have explicitly analyzed the concept itself, let alone the traditional assumption that public deliberation must take place in public. Gundersen examines both. He advances a new model of public deliberation that represents a real, and realistic, alternative to the conventional ones. He then goes on to apply this model to environmental issues. In a series of interviews with a cross-section of 46 citizens, Gundersen shows us how the deliberative process can work--and, specifically, how it can work on abstract and concrete environmental problems. These interviews, quoted extensively in the book, support Gundersen's contention that we can learn to think more intelligently, and collectively, about an issue that demands but so often confounds collective action.

"Governing for the Environment" explores one of the dimensions of the value-knowledge system needed in any movement towards humane governance for the planet: the ecological sustainability and integrity of the Earth's environment. The book begins from the premise that while environmental knowledge and values have developed rapidly, their development must not overwhelm consideration of other core 'humane' values: peace, social justice, and human rights. The book's contributors explore a variety of ethical issues that must inform future global regulation of the Earth's environment.