Bureaucratic Landscapes: Interagency Cooperation and the Preservation of Biodiversity

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MIT Press, Dec 20, 2002 - Science - 375 pages
Political scientists have long been concerned about the tension between institutional fragmentation and policy coordination in the U.S. bureaucracy. The literature is rife with examples of agencies competing with each other or asserting their independence, while cooperation is relatively rare. This is of particular importance in policy areas such as biodiversity, where species, habitats, and ecosystems cross various agency jurisdictions.

Bureaucratic Landscapes explores the reasons for the success and failure of interagency cooperation, focusing on several case studies of efforts to preserve biodiversity in California. The book examines why public officials tried to cooperate and the obstacles they faced, providing indirect evidence of policy impacts as well. Among other topics, it examines the role of courts in prompting agency action, the role of scientific knowledge in organizational learning, and the emergence of new institutions to resolve collective-action problems. Notable findings include the crucial role of environmental lawsuits in prompting agency action and the surprisingly active role of the Bureau of Land Management in resource preservation.

 

Contents

Fragmented Jurisdictions Fragmented Habitat
1
What Cooperation Means to Agency Officials
27
The Emergence of Cooperation among Agency Directors
67
Institutionalizing Cooperation
105
The Klamath Bioregion Local Cooperation and the Demise of the Bioregional Ideal
151
The South Coast Bioregion Making Regional Cooperation Work through Regulation
191
The San Joaquin Valley Bioregion BLMs Cooptation Strategy Fails at the Bioregional Level
225
Explaining Interagency Cooperation Or Why the BLM Cooperates More Than the NPS
255
Research Methodology
279
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING Californias Coordinated Regional Strategy to Conserve Biological Diversity
285
STATEMENT OF INTENT TO SUPPORT THE AGREEMENT ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
293
Notes
297
References
325
Index
345
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About the author (2002)

Craig W. Thomas is Associate Professor at the Evans Schools of Public Affairs, University of Washington.

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