Political
Science 294. Politics of the Environment
Prof.
Eric Smith
Office: 3711 Ellison
E-mail: smith@polsci.ucsb.edu
Hrs: Wed 1-3; Thurs 4-5
Phone: 893-4328,
569-0337
In
this course, we will examine environmental politics and policy. We will pay particular attention to the
political forces that cause environmental policy and theories that are useful
in explaining environmental policy making.
That is, this is a course about the politics of environmental policy
making; it is not a course on environmental policy.
The
course requirements are: (1) a short
paper (3-5 pages)—due roughly in the
middle of the quarter (no later than May 22)—which may be (a) an examination of
a policy case using the ideas developed in Ostrom's Governing the Commons, or (b) a comparison of cost-benefit analysis
and the precautionary principle (i.e., Sunstein vs. Whiteside); (2) a term
paper, which may be: (a) a critical review and synthesis of the literature, (b)
a full-length research proposal or dissertation prospectus, or (c) an original
research paper; (3) class participation.
The research design paper will each be worth 20% of the grade; the term
paper will be worth 60%; participation will be worth 20%. You are expected to come to class having
completed all the assigned readings for that meeting.
All of the required reading should be on JSTOR
(http://eres.library.ucsb.edu/) or on reserve at the library. In addition, the books are available at the
UCSB Bookstore. The required books are:
Required Texts:
Frank Baumgartner and Bryan Jones, Agendas and Instability in American Politics
S. Robert Lichter and
Ted Nordhaus and Michael
Shellenberger, Break Through
Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons
Eric Smith, Energy, the Environment, and Public Opinion
Cass Sunstein, Risk
and Reason
Spencer Weart, The Discovery of Global Warming
Kerry Whiteside, Precautionary
Politics
Web Pages:
Prof.
Smith http://www.polsci.ucsb.edu/faculty/smith/
PS
175 http://www.polsci.ucsb.edu/faculty/smith/courses/ps175.html
Dave Robertson (U. of
Missouri-St. Louis), Environmental Politics and Policy: a Bibliography for
Teaching and Research: http://www.umsl.edu/~robertsondb/248/sy248bib.html
COURSE OUTLINE AND
April
3. Introduction
April 10. Science vs. Politics
Spencer Weart, The
Discovery of Global Warming (2003)
Chris Mooney, The Republican War on Science, chap 1-2
* Juliet Carlisle, Leeanna
Smith, Eric Smith, and Jessica Timpany, "The Public's Trust in Scientific Claims and
Policy Advocates During Energy Crises."
Paper delivered at the annual meeting of the American Political Science
Association,
* Wildavsky
* Bjørn Lomborg, The Skeptical Environmentalist
* Paul
Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich, The Betrayal of
Science and Reason
* Seth Shulman, Undermining Science
* Greg Easterbrook, A Moment on Earth
* Jay Lehr, ed., Rational
April 17. Public Opinion about Environmental Issues
Judith Layzer, The
Environmental Case, chap 1
Eric Smith, Energy,
the Environment, and Public Opinion (2002)
* Deborah Guber, The
Grassroots of a Green Revolution (2003)
* Davis and Wurth,
"Voting preferences and the environment in the American electorate: the
discussion extended."
* Christopher Bosso, Environment, Inc. From Grassroots to Beltway. (2005)
April 24. Risk Perception and NIMBYs
S. Robert Lichter and
Eric Plutzer et al.,
"Ideology and Elites' Perceptions of the Safety of New
Technologies." American Journal of Political Science, 42 (1998): 190-209.
Paul Slovic, Baruch
Fischoff, and Sara Lichtenstein, “Rating the Risks,” Environment, 21 (April 1979): 14-20, 36-39.
Kraft, Michael E., and Bruce
B. Clary (1991). "Citizen
Participation and the NIMBY Syndrome:
Public Response to Radioactive Waste Disposal." Western
Political Quarterly, 44 (1991): 299-328.
* Eric Smith and Marisela
Marquez, “The Other Side of the NIMBY Syndrome.” Society
& Natural Resources, 13 (2000): 273-80.
May 1. Agenda Setting
Frank Baumgartner and Bryan
Jones, Agendas and Instability in
American Politics (1993)
Stefaan Walgrave and Peter
Van Aelst, “The Contingency of the Mass Media’s Political Agenda Setting
Power.” Journal of Communication 56
(2006): 88-109.
* John Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (1984)
* Frank Baumgartner and
Bryan Jones, The Politics of Attention
(2005)
* Bryan Jones,
* Shanto
Iyengar and Donald Kinder, News That
Matters
* Peter
John (2003). Is there life after policy streams, advocacy coalitions, and
punctuations: Using evolutionary theory to explain policy change? Policy Studies Journal, 31, 481-498.
May 8. Common-Pool Resource Problems
Garrett Hardin, "Tragedy of the Commons." Science 162 (13 December 1968): 1243-48.
Elinor Ostrom, Governing
the Commons
May15. Comparative Risk Analysis
Cass Sunstein, Risk
and Reason
Norman Vig & Michael Kraft, Environmental Policy, chaps 10-11
* Mary O'Brien, Making
Better Environmental Decisions
* K. S. Shrader-Frechette, Risk and Rationality
May 22. The Precautionary Principle
Kerry Whiteside, Precautionary
Politics (2006)
* Joel Tickner, ed., Environmental Science and the Precautionary Principle
* Nancy Myers and Carolyn
Raffensperger, Precautionary Tools for Reshaping
Environmental Policy
May 29. Environmental Justice
Robert Bullard, “Environmental Justice in the 21st
Century.” In Robert Bullard, ed., The
Quest for Environmental Justice
Manuel Pastor, Jr., et al., “Environmental Inequity in
Metropolitan
June 5. Sustainability
and the Future
Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, Break Through
* Daniel Fiorino, The New Environmental Regulation (2005)
*
Recommended additional reading