Politics of Biotechnology in North America and Europe

Ýric Montpetit is associate professor of political science at the University of Montreal. Christine Rothmayr is assistant professor of political science at the University of Montreal. Frédéric Varone is professor of political science at the University of Geneva.

Two of the most prominent applications of biotechnology assisted reproductive technology and genetic modification of plants have stirred strong feelings and led to widely varying approaches among North American and European countries. Nor are states always consistent, they might be restrictive on GMOs but permissive of ARTs. In a systematic comparison of these two policy areas, this book adds greatly to our understanding. Theoretically well-informed and methodologically sophisticated, the authors show how different patterns of networks, national institutions, and international regimes explain policy outcomes. In providing this analysis, they challenge common assumptions about an "Atlantic divide" and the importance of EU institutions over nation-state ones. Policy scholars working in all policy areas will find much to learn from this book.

• Chapter 1 Comparing Biotechnology Policy in Europe and North America: A Theoretical FrameworkChapter 2 Trade and Human Rights: Inter- and Supranational Regulation of ART and GM FoodChapter 3 Different Paths to the Same Result: Explaining Permissive Policies in the USAChapter 4 The Canadian Knowledge Economy in the Shadow of the United Kingdom and the United StatesChapter 5 A Contrast of Two Sectors in the British Knowledge EconomyChapter 6 Policy Mediation of Tensions Regarding Biotechnology in FranceChapter 7 ART and GMO Policies in Germany: Effect of Mobilization, Issue-Coupling, and EuropeanizationChapter 8 Accommodation, Bureaucratic Politics, and Supranational Leviathan: ART and GMO Policy-Making in the NetherlandsChapter 9 Conflict and Consensus in Belgian Biopolicies: GMO Controversy versus Biomedical Self-RegulationChapter 10 ARTs and GMOs in Sweden: Explaining the Differences in Policy DesignChapter 11 Switzerland: Direct Democracy and Non-EU Membership—Different Institutions, Similar PoliciesChapter 12 Regulating ART and GMOs in Europe and North America: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis