Despite the optimism of 1992's "Earth Summit" the politics of environmental sustainable development have reached an impasse. Why do issues of environmental protection continue to take a back seat to economic competition, particularly in the international realm? Living With Nature argues that in order to answer this question we must view the debate about environmental sustainability in terms of the basic cultural and political questions underpinning the dynamics of the environmental crisis.

This book explores the role of policy expertise in a democratic society. From the perspectives of political science and policy theory, the chapters examine the implications of deliberative democratic governance for professional expertise and extends them to specific policy practices. Following the earlier lead of John Dewey, the discussion focuses in particular on the ways professional practices might be reoriented to assist citizens in understanding and discussing the complex policy issues of an advanced technological society. In doing so, it also explores how public deliberation can be...

Critical policy studies, as this volume illustrates, challenges conventional approaches to public policy inquiry with its focus on discursive politics, policy argumentation and deliberation, and interpretive modes of analysis. Assembling the voices of established and emerging scholars, the Handbook of Critical Policy Studies fills a major gap in the policy literature. Moving beyond the false neutrality of empiricism and positivism, this Handbook highlights the responsibility of inquirers to take account of social and political context - including present conditions, past trends and prevailing...

Critical policy studies, as this volume illustrates, challenges conventional approaches to public policy inquiry with its focus on discursive politics, policy argumentation and deliberation, and interpretive modes of analysis. Assembling the voices of established and emerging scholars, the Handbook of Critical Policy Studies fills a major gap in the policy literature. Moving beyond the false neutrality of empiricism and positivism, this Handbook highlights the responsibility of inquirers to take account of social and political context - including present conditions, past trends and...

Addressed to the growing concerns about norms and values in policy assessment, this study develops a methodology for the political evaluation of public policy. It is designed to move policy evaluation beyond its current emphasis on efficient achievement of goals, focusing instead on the assessment of the acceptability of the goals themselves.