"Balancing interests in the EU and the U.S.: A comparison of environmental policymaking institutions and water policy outputs"

Hoornbeek, John A. (2001) "Balancing interests in the EU and the U.S.: A comparison of environmental policymaking institutions and water policy outputs" . In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2001 (7th), May 31-June 2, 2001, pages 44, Madison, Wisconsin.

Abstract

In multi-level political systems such as the European Union and the United States, governing institutions balance the influence of territorially and functionally based interests in the policymaking process. This paper argues that-in comparative terms-EU intuitional structures for environmental decision-making provide relatively strong opportunities for influence by territorially based interests, while environmental policymaking institutions in the U.S. tend to allow for the exercise of relatively greater levels of influence by functionally based interests. It further argues that these institutional differences have implications for water policy outputs in the two political jurisdictions. Specifically, it suggests that the EU's more geographically oriented institutional structures enable a relatively high level of horizontal integration across policy sectors during the formulation stage of the policy process. In the U.S., by contrast, relatively high levels of institutional receptiveness to functionally oriented interests have contributed to more vertically integrated structures for drinking water and surface water policy implementation.