This book can be regarded as a monograph on the debates and developments in Dutch environmental policy. It has been written with a specific perspective in mind. First and foremost, the line of approach we have taken was from a multidisciplinary social science point of view. The trend in environmental policy is looked at from the angle of sociology, policy studies and political science. Secondly, all analyses depart from the paradigm shift concept. This particular paradigm shift is based on the fact that a radical change has taken shape over the years in the way environmental issues are handled. Previously, environmental policy had always been characterised by is top-down approach in which government determined the actual objectives of policy and assumed that it could win over business, non governmental organisations and citizens to act in line with those objectives. There was also a great deal of faith in the technical solutions to environmental issues. Today's environmental policy is based on a totally different philosophy. Environmental objectives are now reached in association with business, non-governmental organisations and citizens. These actors are also involved in bringing environmental policy into practice. In other words, the implementation of policy has a more interactive nature. New relationships emerge between government, the market and civil society, and policy discourses also become integrated. The environmental interest is more often weighed against the econom1c interests, the spatial development and against social justice.

Klappentext

This book shows how the environmental policy pursued in The Netherlands has undergone a revolutionary change: a change referred to as a paradigm shift. A new trend can be detected from top-down governance to an interactive form of governance. This new paradigm assumes that environmental policy can only be realised successfully if it is embedded in a wider balancing process in which both societal and economic interests are taken into account. Parties other than government, such as businesses, non-governmental organisations, and citizens, must become involved in the policy-making process and subsequently its implementation. The new paradigm has given a significant impetus to the debates on greening our society. The goal of this book is to offer the reader an analysis of this paradigm shift and to explain the possibilities and limitations of exploring the new method of governance. The perspective taken is from the multidisciplinary social science point of view; the developments in environmental policy are analysed on the basis of sociology, political science, and policy studies. While the analyses relate specifically to Dutch environmental policy, the lessons learned can also be of significance for the environmental policy pursued in other liberal democratic nations.

Inhalt
1 The Paradigm Shift in Environmental Politics Towards a New Image of the Manageable Society.- 2 Networks as a New Concept for Governance.- 3 Strategies in Environmental Policy A Historical Institutional Perspective.- 4 Greening Production as Co-responsibility.- 5 The Stubborn Consumer.- 6 The Renewal of Rural Areas.- 7 Policy Innovations in the Urban Context.- 8 Environment and Participation The Shifting Significance of a Double Concept.- 9 Greening Political Institutions.- 10 The Netherlands: International Innovator or Selfinterested Negotiator?.- 11 The Paradigm Shift in Environmental Policy Research.- 12 New Directions in Environmental Politics Concluding Remarks.