The Environmental Protection Agency: Asking the Wrong Questions: From Nixon to Clinton [Paperback]

Marc K. Landy (Author), Marc J. Roberts (Author), Stephen R. Thomas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195086732 | ISBN-13: 978-0195086737 | Publication Date: June 16, 1994 | Edition: Exp Sub

The Environmental Protection Agency: From Nixon to Clinton seeks to uncover the mistaken premises upon which errant policy decisions have been founded. Through its comprehensive chronicle of the agency's evolution, it uniquely and expertly depicts the serious consequences which have resulted from poor policy decisions, and discusses which questions the EPA should be encouraged to ask, and how they can be encouraged to do so. With new chapters on the Bush and Clinton administrations, it is the only comprehensive history of the EPA, tracing the agency from its founding under Nixon to its current role in the Clinton administration.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A good complement to an environmental law text--illustrates legislative and administrative aspects of regulatory schemes."--Denise Fort, University of New Mexico

"I have adopted this for my seminar on organizational analysis and public policy. It is thorough and it takes a very useful approach to the study of public policy design and implementation."--Kenneth Ruscio, Washington B. Lee University

"Provides a long overdue examination of the problems facing the EPA in its requirement of fulfilling Congressional directives. A useful illustration not only of EPA's methodology, but of general difficulties facing an administrative agency in complying with the laws in an appropriate manner."--Victor Flatt, University of Washington

Praise for the original edition:

"One of the book's most impressive features is the extraordinarily detailed rendition of the five cases....One has the sense of real battles fought out among real people. It is a flesh-and-blood world, where human stakes and motivations matter."--Science

"A richly rewarding study of the most important issues faced by the EPA. It also provides a fascinating inside look at the political history of the agency...[and] will help change the way we think about environmental regulation."--Joseph L. Sax, University of California, Berkeley

"An important and challenging book examining America's efforts to invent a governmental institution to carry out the vast task of environmental protection. It raises fundamental questions about the role and capacity of government in a technological democracy using a series of fascinating and carefully documented case studies. The book explores the process by which central questions of values are lost in the intricate politics and technical complexity of regulatory policy making. The EPA: Asking the Wrong Questions will challenge the public managers to rethink the policy process and their own role as public servants."--Jonathan Lash, Secretary, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources

"While not slighting the evident political struggle, the authors' emphasis upon public education as a prime administrative responsibility adds a welcome note of respect for evidence and feasibility, including the possibility that governmental efforts may be counterproductive, to the debate over environmental policy."--Aaron Wildavsky, Georgetown University Law Center

"A study of administrative and, more broadly, democratic deliberation. As such it joins the work of Bessette, Maass, Mansbridge, Muir, Tulis, and others in defining an important new agenda for research on public policy making....To the extent that this path-breaking study succeeds in directing greater research attention to the processes and conditions of effective deliberation, Landy, Roberts and Thomas will have performed an enormous service."--American Political Science Review

"Privileged access to senior EPA officials and candid interviews have provided an insider's view, rich with details of conflict."--Choice

About the Author

Marc K. Landy is at Boston College. Marc J. Roberts is at Harvard School of Public Health and the Kennedy School of Government.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Exp Sub edition (June 16, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195086732
• ISBN-13: 978-0195086737
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #446,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dense with detail and thought provoking, February 13, 2005

By 

B. Y. Clark (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Environmental Protection Agency: Asking the Wrong Questions: From Nixon to Clinton (Paperback)

This book was extremely dense and full of detail. At times the authors overwhelmed me with names, dates, events, and abbreviations-all that being said I learned more about EPA from reading than anything else I have read.

The introduction provides you with a good foundation of the goings on prior to EPAs creation, and what spurred its creation. The sections on the Ozone Standard, RCRA, Superfund, Cancer Policy, and CAA are informative to say the least. It is in these five sections that I felt overwhelmed with details and names--that at times really seemed excessive, and not necessary to get the story/history through. Again, They also managed, despite the wordiness, to lay out what was going on, put it into context, and at the same time raises important questions.

Part III provides details on the Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton Administrations, although the Clinton section is weak at best (but that has more to do with when this book was written than anything else). I seems to present a very evenhanded look throughout at both Democrats and Republicans in the White House. Their style sold me on their credibility to tell is as it was.