The politics of nuclear energy in France, Sweden, and the United States

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5260062

Jasper, J M

Why did nuclear policies in France, Sweden, and the United States, virtually identical through the oil crisis of 1973-1974, come to diverge so sharply by the end of the 1970's The answer lies neither in the relative penetration of the anti-nuclear movements, which had little effect in all three countries, nor in rational economic assessments of alternative energy resources, which were recognized only after key policy choices had been made. Nuclear energy policies arose out of conflict between many individuals, organizations, and political groups within the state in each country. Political and economic structures, from autonomous bureaucracies to nationalized industries, explain the amount of power these actors had, but they cannot fully explain the policy outcomes. The structural approach has to be filled in with accounts of the symbolic grids of the actors. One of these grids is the characteristic policy styles (rhetorics, symbols, and formulas) groups used for both deriving and defending their positions. Another grid is the dominant ideological cleavages among competing political parties: government intervention versus the free market in the United States, labor versus capital in France, the governing Social Democrats versus everyone else in Sweden. Because the issue of nuclear policy was twisted to fit these grids, what was at stake differed in the three countries.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5260062
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290600* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
ENERGY
ENERGY POLICY
EUROPE
FRANCE
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR ENERGY
POLITICAL ASPECTS
SCANDINAVIA
SWEDEN
USA
WESTERN EUROPE