How do different societies respond politically to environmental problems around
the globe? Answering this question requires systematic, cross-national
comparisons of political institutions, regulatory styles, and state-society
relations. The field of comparative environmental politics approaches this task
by bringing the theoretical tools of comparative politics to bear on the
substantive concerns of environmental policy. This book outlines a comparative
environmental politics framework and applies it to concrete, real-world
problems of politics and environmental management. After a comprehensive review
of the literature exploring domestic environmental politics around the world,
the book provides a sample of major currents within the field, showing how
environmental politics intersects with such topics as the greening of the
state, the rise of social movements and green parties, European Union
expansion, corporate social responsibility, federalism, political instability,
management of local commons, and policymaking under democratic and
authoritarian regimes. It offers fresh insights into environmental problems
ranging from climate change to water scarcity and the disappearance of tropical
forests, and it examines actions by state and nonstate actors at levels from
the local to the continental. The book will help scholars and policymakers make
sense of how environmental issues and politics are connected around the globe,
and is ideal for use in upper-level undergraduateand graduate courses.
