The Life Cycles of the Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency: 1970 - 2035 - Softcover

Conant, James K.; Balint, Peter J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0190203714 ISBN 13: 9780190203719

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2016

Synopsis

In 1970, due to increasing public concern about the environment, a dramatic series of bipartisan actions were taken to expand the national government's efforts to control pollutants. In that year, the Congress and President Nixon established two key federal agencies to address the nation's growing environmental problems: the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But despite this initial recognition of the pressing problems presented by environmental degradation, support for related policymaking and administration waxed and waned over the next thirty-five years, as other domestic and foreign policy problems rose to the top of the public and legislative agendas. What does the future hold for environmental policy in the United States, given the highly polarized politics surrounding the issue today?

In this book, James K. Conant and Peter J. Balint examine what happened to the CEQ and EPA between 1970 and 2010 by using changes in leadership and budgetary resources as key indicators of the agencies' vitality and capacity for implementing pollution control laws. They also examine correlations between the agencies' fortunes and various social, political, and economic variables. The authors conclude with several scenarios about what the future holds for these important environmental agencies.

About this title

About the Author:

James K. Conant is Professor in the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs at George Mason University.

Peter J. Balint is Associate Professor in the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs at George Mason University.

Review:

"This book offers the best (and most readable) short account of the history of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The authors' explanations of the four life-cycle models for federal agencies will primarily interest administrative and political science scholars. However, the relevance with which key books and concepts are selected for discussion makes this slim volume of potential interest to other readers. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; general readers."
--F. T. Manheim, George Mason University

"[Conant and Balint] provide a smart and constructive analysis of the dynamic changes in these two vital environmental policy institutions."
--H-Net

"In this slim volume, Conant and Balint offer a comprehensive and rewarding history of the U.S. CEQ and the EPA. They ground their assessment in organizational lifecycle models and explore a variety of intriguing questions about the two agencies. Of particular importance is their rigorous analysis of EPA funding over time, which has major implications for the agency's effectiveness during periods of heightened political controversy over environmental policy."
--Michael E. Kraft, co-author of Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century

"Conant and Balint have examined the 45 year history of the US' principal environmental entities and rated their standing through the changes of Administrations and the vicissitudes of public concern for the environment. I applaud their making institutional history an appropriate object for social scientists to put under the microscope. Their rigorous objectivity and focus on budget allocations leads them to surprising conclusions: the agencies fared better under Republicans than under Democrats. Their extensive research equips them to take the case further, and evaluate the quality of the agencies' performance for which budget numbers are indicative though not conclusive determinants."
--William K. Reilly, Senior Staff Member at CEQ 1970-73, and US EPA Administrator 1989-93

"This book provides an invaluable perspective on the political economy of federal budgeting from the agency point of view. The insights generated by the authors on resource allocation and bureaucratic politics break new ground that hopefully may stimulate much needed new research on the politics of national budgeting. The authors do the great service to students and interested observers alike of demystifying the often obscure and specialized world of budgeting by clearly illustrating and demonstrating the broader policy and political consequences of budget choices and routines." --Paul L. Posner, Chairman, National Academy of Public Administration

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0190203714
• ISBN 13: 9780190203719
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216