Environmental Governance in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of New Environmental Policy Instruments - Hardcover

Wurzel, Rüdiger K.W.; Zito, Anthony R.; Jordan, Andrew J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1849804664 ISBN 13: 9781849804660

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

'This book fills an important gap in the environmental governance literature, addressing governance at a lower level of abstraction than other texts and examining how it plays out in relation to specific modes and instruments of governing. It also contributes towards governance theory-building efforts through the development of an empirically relevant analytical framework. In so doing it provides a firm underpinning for assessing whether, to what extent and in what ways there has been a transition from government towards governance in environmental policy.'
- Neil Gunningham, Australian National University

'Theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich, this book provides an overview of the introduction, development, and use of new policy instruments and new modes of environmental governance in the European context, taking into account both national and European Union experiences. This is a welcome addition to the field!'
- Miranda Schreurs, Environmental Policy Research Centre and Free University of Berlin, Germany

European governance has witnessed dramatic changes in recent decades. By assessing the use of 'new' environmental policy instruments in European Union countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, this timely book analyses whether traditional forms of top-down government have given way to less hierarchical governance instruments, which rely strongly on societal self-steering and/or market forces. The authors provide important new theoretical insights as well as fresh empirical detail on why, and in what form, these instruments are being adopted within and across different levels of governance, along with analysis of the often-overlooked interactions between the instrument types.

Providing important new theoretical insights into the governance debate by combining institutionalist and policy learning/transfer approaches, this book will be invaluable for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The analytical insights as well as a thorough empirical assessment of the use of environmental policy instruments in practice will prove essential for environmental policy specialists/practitioners.

Contents:
Preface
Part I: Introduction
1. Environmental Policy: From Government to Governance?
Part II: Context
2. Governing by Policy Instruments: Theories and Analytical Concepts
3. Changing Institutional Contexts for the Use of Policy Instruments
Part III: Governing by New Instruments
4. Governing by Informational Means
5. Governing by Voluntary Means
6. Governing by Eco-taxes
7. Governing by Emissions Trading
Part IV: Emerging Patterns of Governing
8. Changing Patterns of Environmental Policy Instrument Use
9. Out with the 'Old' and in with the 'New'? Governing with Policy Instruments
Bibliography
Index

About this title

About the Author:

Rüdiger K.W. Wurzel, Professor of Comparative European Politics and Jean Monnet Chair in European Union Studies, University of Hull, UK, Anthony R. Zito, Professor of European Public Policy, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, UK and Andrew J. Jordan, Professor in Environmental Politics, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK

Review:

This path-breaking book, written by three well known experts, makes an extremely valuable contribution to the study of ''new'' environmental policy instruments as well as to much wider theoretical debates about governance, policy innovation, learning and transfer. Drawing on an unrivaled comparative empirical study of five different jurisdictions, it manages to make many new points about issues that many of us thought had already been settled. --Martin Janicke, Free University of Berlin, and former deputy chair, German Advisory Council on the Environment, Germany

Much more than a study of environmental policy instruments, this book ranges widely and authoritatively over the ''government to governance'' debate, theories of policy change, regulation, policy transfer, and policy learning. Its lessons and conclusions are relevant and timely well beyond the European context of its case studies and it will be essential reading for public policy scholars everywhere for some time to come. --Jeremy Rayner, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

This book represents a very rare achievement in that it combines detailed and up-to-the-minute empirical analysis of environmental policy over the past four decades, with a sophisticated discussion and critique of current theoretical issues in comparative and policy studies generally. It unfolds with a keen eye towards understanding the temporal dimensions of policy dynamics both in the specific policy field examined but also in terms of testing key analytical concepts. Taken as a whole it provides the most detailed empirical assessment to date of the general ''government to governance'' hypothesis, with significant implications for policy and governance studies in general. --Michael Howlett, Simon Fraser University, Canada and National University of Singapore

About this edition

• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1849804664
• ISBN 13: 9781849804660
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304