State autonomy and democratic accountability: The politics of hazardous waste policy

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7074961

McAvoy, G E

In this dissertation, the author examines one aspect of the tension between democratic decision-making and the expansion of the modern administrative state-namely, the resources and strategies available to modern states to pursue policy objectives, even in the face of substantial public opposition. He explores these issues through a case study of Minnesota's hazardous waste policy, using both interview material from discussions with state officials and citizens and data from a public opinion survey that he conducted. The author focuses, in particular, on the state's attempt to gain consent of a hazardous waste stabilization and containment facility from the residents of two rural Minnesota counties. This case study is used to develop two arguments regarding the relationship between democratic decision-making and the administrative state. First, the role of citizens in the democratic control of the bureaucracy has largely been neglected in existing analyses of state decision-making. Second, the author contends that citizens can at times create a role for themselves in policy-making through direct mobilization and pressure on their elected representatives. Second, this case shows that such participation is essential to rational and democratic decision-making (countering claims that citizens are too emotional and uninformed to contribute to policy-making). Citizens raise and help resolve normative issues that are embedded in all policies (but particularly in locational decisions) and expose miscalculations and questionable claims made by expert decision-makers. The author concludes by discussing what such findings suggest for the re-structuring of state decision-making.

• Research Organization: Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis, MN (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7074961
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290300* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
DECISION MAKING
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MINNESOTA
NORTH AMERICA
POLITICAL ASPECTS
PUBLIC OPINION
STATE GOVERNMENT
SURVEYS
USA
WASTE MANAGEMENT