ENVI 308(S) Environmental Policy (Same as Political Science 308)
Over the past generation, environmental policy has emerged as a new and important aspect of the governance of the natural world and private property in the U.S. This course introduces students to the study of public policy and its politics from the perspective of the constellation of professionals, managers, and activists involved in the implementation and formulation of policy. We will take up the organizational forms and politics that underlie governing in the post-industrial political economy, and survey the array of policies that has transformed that governance for natural resources, property, and ecosystem services. Environmental policy is a response to the complexities of the contemporary economy, and its technical and social challenges strain long-accepted notions of democratic representation and rationality. These challenges, in turn, raise far-reaching issues in societies in which responsible action by individuals and organized collectivities lies at the center of the civil order. Prerequisites: Political Science 110 and Environmental Studies 101; Environmental Studies 307 (Same as Political Science 317) is strongly recommended; this is the companion course to Environmental Studies 307/Political Science 317 (Environmental Law). Students are not required to register for both courses, but they are team-taught and coordinated, so that the benefit of taking them both is intended to be greater than sum of the parts. The courses may be taken in either order.