DEMOCRACY, DIALOGUE & ENVIRON DISPUTES

Albert R. Matheny

ISBN 10: 0300075545 / ISBN 13: 9780300075540

Published by Yale University Press Jun 1998, 1998

About this Item

Neuware - At every level of government, environmental regulation is under siege. In Washington, it has been attacked first through the New Federalism and now through the Contract with America. Outside the capital, environmental regulation is the subject of controversy as state and local officials struggle with new responsibilities, threats of industry exit, and challenges from grassroots groups. This book addresses the conundrum of regulation by tracing its source to the competing characterizations of regulatory legitimacy that have accompanied the growth of the American state. Bruce Williams and Albert Matheny identify three distinct languages--managerial, pluralist, and communitarian--used to articulate competing visions of regulation. They argue that each language posits a different understanding of the public interest and therefore a different relationship between the state, the market, and the public. Because all three languages are invoked in regulatory debates, disputants talk past one another, leaving fundamental issues of legitimacy and democracy unresolved or masked by unexamined assumptions. The authors propose a dialogic model for analyzing regulatory policymaking, drawing on postmodernist theory that claims that establishing single languages for understanding the world inevitably distorts communication. They then apply their analysis to case studies of actual environmental disputes over hazardous waste regulation in the 1980s and 1990s in New Jersey, Ohio, and Florida.

Seller Inventory # 9780300075540

Bibliographic Details

• Title: DEMOCRACY, DIALOGUE & ENVIRON DISPUTES
• Publisher: Yale University Press Jun 1998
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300075545
• ISBN 13: 9780300075540
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 234W x 157H x 16D millimeters 234 millimeters width by 157 millimeters height by 16 millimeters depth
• Weight: 395 grams

About this title

Synopsis

At every level of government environmental regulation is under siege. In Washington it has been attacked first through the New Federalism and now through the Contract with America. Outside the capital environmental regulation is the subject of controversy as state and local officials struggle with new responsibilities threats of industry exit and challenges from grassroots groups.

This book addresses the conundrum of regulation by tracing its source to the competing characterizations of regulatory legitimacy that have accompanied the growth of the American state. Bruce Williams and Albert Matheny identify three distinct languages--managerial pluralist and communitarian--used to articulate competing visions of regulation. They argue that each language posits a different understanding of the public interest and therefore a different relationship between the state the market and the public. Because all three languages are invoked in regulatory debates disputants talk past one another leaving fundamental issues of legitimacy and democracy unresolved or masked by unexamined assumptions. The authors propose a dialogic model for analyzing regulatory policymaking drawing on postmodernist theory that claims that establishing single languages for understanding the world inevitably distorts communication. They then apply their analysis to case studies of actual environmental disputes over hazardous waste regulation in the 1980s and 1990s in New Jersey Ohio and Florida.

About the Author

Bruce A. Williams is associate professor of urban and regional planning and of communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Albert R. Matheny is associate professor of political science at the University of Florida.