Institutional and Policy Responses to Uncertainty in Environmental Policy: A Comparison of Dutch and U.S. Styles |
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| Authors: | Maarten J Arentsen Hans ThA Bressers Laurence J O'Toole Jr |
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| Institution: | senior researcher and vice director of the Center for Clean Technology and Environmental Policy (CSTM) of the University of Twente, The Netherlands. His research focuses on energy and environmental policy and management, with emphasis on institutional organization and change, regulation and innovation.;professor of policy studies and environmental policy at the University of Twente, as well as scientific director of the Center for Clean Technology and Environmental Policy (CSTM) of that university. Currently, he chairs the Advisory Committee to the Dutch Minister for the Environment for the implementation of environmental policy by local government, and he serves as an independent scientific member of the Commission on Sustainable Development of the Dutch Socio-Economic Council (SER). He has published widely on policy mapping, instruments, implementation, evaluation, and policy networks, particularly with respect to environmental policies.;Margaret Hughes and Robert T. Golembiewski Professor of public administration in the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia. He is also a research advisor to the Center for Clean Technology and Environmental Policy (CSTM) of the University of Twente. Much of his work focuses on policy implementation and public management in network settings, particularly in the field of environmental policy. |
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| Abstract: | Uncertainties regarding problem definition and policy response are an endemic pan of environmental decisionmaking. Some standard responses to uncertainty in decisionmaking are analyzed and then used to suggest the importance of learning-oriented policy processes in open, flexible, and adaptive institutional environments. The institutional and policy responses to both types of uncertainties are explored in two different institutional settings: the consensus-oriented setting of the Netherlands and the more adversarial and pluralistic context of the United States. The examination displays tensions accompanying learning-oriented environmental policymaking and the complex impact of institutional environments. Conclusions sketch implications for how to accommodate learning-oriented environmental policy processes. |
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