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Pluralistic Competition

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Environmental Problem Solving

Part of the book series: Springer Series on Environmental Management ((SSEM))

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Abstract

The upsurge of militant environmentalism in the 1970s introduced a variety of new psychosocial elements into the problem-solving process, making the market place of ideas much more diverse and turbulent. Particularly troublesome for the iron triangles, who had enjoyed a monopoly on decision-making power for so long, was the militant anti-industrial, antigrowth, proenvironmental stance of many of these newly organized groups. In other words, after decades of quiescence, the Arcadian worldview was beginning to reassert itself. As a result, the relatively orderly world of the decision maker was invaded by advocates of worldviews they could barely understand using styles of thinking (subjective-holistic) they were unable to tolerate. On the positive side, this period of upheaval rescued elements of Arcadian thinking from oblivion, thrusting them into public awareness where they have remained.1 On the other hand, the period was one of bad-tempered bickering during which the problem-solving process was engulfed in posturing rather than improved in quality. Debate seldom reached beyond short-term preoccupations to the more fundamental issues of sociopolitical change and social justice but became mired in the details of parochial conflicts. As a result, the period between 1970 and 1985 was one of confrontation and litigation, which hindered, rather than facilitated, innovative policy making. What I shall argue in this chap-ter, therefore, is that although this period of interest-group politics may have achieved some local gains, it did not result in more adaptive forms of problem solving.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

    Alan Miller

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Miller, A. (1999). Pluralistic Competition. In: Environmental Problem Solving. Springer Series on Environmental Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1440-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1440-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-40297-0

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