Business and Environmental Policy: Corporate Interests in the American Political System

It is well known that American businesses make an effort to influence environmentalpolicy by attempting to set the political agenda and to influence regulations and legislation. Thisbook examines what is not so well known: the extent to which business succeeds in its policyinterventions. In Business and Environmental Policy, a team of distinguished scholars systematicallyanalyzes corporate influence at all stages of the policy process, focusing on the factors thatdetermine the success or failure of business lobbying in Congress, state legislatures, localgovernments, federal and state agencies, and the courts. These experts consider whether businessinfluence is effectively counterbalanced by the efforts of environmental groups, public opinion, andother forces.The book also examines the use of the media to influence public opinion--as in thebattle over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--and corporations' efforts to swayelections by making campaign contributions. Because the book goes well beyond the existingliterature--much of which is narrow, descriptive, and anecdotal--to provide broad-based empiricalevidence of corporate influence on environmental policy, it makes an original and importantcontribution and is appropriate for a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses.

Sheldon Kamieniecki is Dean of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author or editor of many other books.