Political Science: US Environmental Politics

Environmental and natural resources politics in the American context. Analysis of the environmental movement and political theories, issues, processes, and institutions. Prerequisites: POLS 1300, POLS 1013, or ENVS 1500. Cross-listed with: ENVS 2460.

Prereqs enforced by the system: POLS 1300 or POLS 1013; Minimum Sophomore standing. Cross listed with ENVS 2460 A; Total combined enrollment = 119 PACE students by permission and override.

How do governments solve problems? The purpose of this course is to answer this question while considering key environmental challenges facing the United States. After starting with some theoretical ideas about the policy process, the environment, and collective action problems, we will spend the majority of our time considering the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches by policymakers to solving environmental problems, including command and control regulation, administration by scientific experts, and market-based policies. Student will also have opportunities to consider how they would design public policies to solve problems of interest to them. Key learning objectives: 1. Students should become familiar with several different approaches to solving public policy problems, including their strengths and weaknesses. 2. Students should gain a basic understanding of core policies related to environmental problems in the United States 3. Students should gain a basic understanding of different views on several crucial debates in environmental policy today, including: - Are there “limits to growth”? - What are the causes and solutions of the “Tragedy of the Commons”? - What is the proper role of markets vs. regulation in solving environmental problems? - What is the proper role of the public in environmental policy making?