This thesis is a regional interdisciplinary analysis of the environmental challenge to the liberal democratic state. It situates these new problems of governance in one of the dominating political conflicts of our time, the battle between market and state for the 'commanding heights'. By the end of the 1970s, environmental concerns had added to the social crises associated with the overloaded, welfare state. The study sets the political context through an exposition of the perceived problems of the overloaded state, analysed by neo-Marxist theorists in terms of rationality and legitimacy deficits and by public choice theorists in terms of the incentives and calculations confronting rational individuals. It draws out the association between these alternative perspectives on 'state overload' and the political philosophies of corporatism and neo-liberalism, showing that, on the neo-Marxist understanding, corporatism addresses the functional requirements of late capitalism, while public choice precepts are strongly influential on leading elements of neo-liberalism. This political analysis is developed through the history of a landmark piece of legislation, the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act (NSW) 1985, in toxic chemicals policymaking from the late 1970s to the end of 1997. The interpretation of the case material shows that the response in NSW to the environmental problematic has been driven by the reform agenda of the successive political programs of corporatism and neo-liberalism for the state, the bureaucracy and the democratic process. Neither the corporatist nor the neo-liberal programs succeeded in meeting environmental criteria. Examination of the inadequate responses of both corporatism and neo-liberalism, when measured against sustainability criteria, leads to a deeper understanding of the institutional reforms required if these criteria are to be addressed. The thesis concludes that the failure to effect successful reform of toxic chemicals policy in NSW reflects the failure of leading political theorems of the liberal democratic state to incorporate sustainability criteria successfully into their reform agenda for the state, the bureaucracy and the democratic process. These regional issues are shown to be thematic for the nation-state when raised in the context of the globalisation of the environmental challenge and the inter nationalisation of market forces. The thesis concludes with a brief review of some recent political theory in relation to the programmatic issues of sustainability and democracy which it has pursued.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/187617 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Benn, Suzanne Harriette, Science & Technology Studies, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Science and Technology Studies |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Suzanne Harriette Benn, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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