Institutions, Interests, Energy, and the Environment: Policymaking in Corporatism, Pluralism, and Beyond

Abstract

This article provides an overview of a symposium of papers that address the problem of how institutional arrangements affect environmental and energy policy when the two are often seen as being competing and inherently incompatible. The role of government institutions is seen as key in managing the delicate balance between striving to protect the environment on one hand, while providing energy for economic growth on the other. The authors in this symposium have sought collectively to address the question of how institutionalized systems of interest group representation manage competing demands for a clean environment with affordable, easily accessible energy to fuel economies. Together they demonstrate that this issue is more complex than suggested by either environmentalists or economists.