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.
Preface. About the authors. Part 1: Introduction. 1. The Paradigm Shift in Environmental Politics -- Towards a New Image of the Manageable Society; P. Glasbergen, P.P.J. Driessen. 2. Networks as a New Concept for Governance; H.J.M. Goverde, N.J.M. Nelissen. 3. Strategies in Environmental Policy -- A Historical Institutional Perspective; J.P.M. van Tatenhove, H.J.M. Goverde. Part 2: Environmental Politics in an Economical Context. 4. Greening Production as Co-responsibility; W.J.V. Vermeulen. 5. The Stubborn Consumer; W.J.V. Vermeulen. Part 3: Environmental Politics in a Spatial Context. 6. The Renewal of Rural Areas; P.P.J. Driessen, et al. 7. Policy Innovations in the Urban Context; J.F.M. van der Waals, P. Glasbergen. Part 4: Political Institutional Aspects. 8. Environmental and Participation -- The Shifting Significance of a Double Concept; P. Leroy, J.P.M. van Tatenhove. 9. Greening Political Institutions; P. Glasbergen, H.J.M. Goverde. 10. The Netherlands: International Innovator or Self-interested Negotiator? B. Arts, et al. Part 5: Conclusions. 11. The Paradigm Shift in Environmental Policy Research; P. Leroy, N.J.M. Nelissen. 12. New Directions in Environmental Politics -- Concluding Remarks; P.P.J. Driessen, P. Glasbergen.