The Politics of Precaution examines the politics of consumer and environmental risk regulation in the United States and Europe over the last five decades, explaining why America and Europe have often regulated a wide range of similar risks differently. It finds that between 1960 and 1990, American health, safety, and environmental regulations were more stringent, risk averse, comprehensive, and innovative than those adopted in Europe. But since around 1990, the book shows, global regulatory leadership has shifted to Europe. What explains this striking reversal? David Vogel takes an in-depth, comparative look at European and American policies toward a range of consumer and environmental risks, including vehicle air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, beef and milk hormones, genetically modified agriculture, antibiotics in animal feed, pesticides, cosmetic safety, and hazardous substances in electronic products. He traces how concerns over such risks--and pressure on political leaders to do something about them--have risen among the European public but declined among Americans. Vogel explores how policymakers in Europe have grown supportive of more stringent regulations while those in the United States have become sharply polarized along partisan lines. And as European policymakers have grown more willing to regulate risks on precautionary grounds, increasingly skeptical American policymakers have called for higher levels of scientific certainty before imposing additional regulatory controls on business.

Notwithstanding the myriad forms of government assistance to American business, the relationship of business to politics in the United States remains a highly antagonistic one, characterized by substantial mutual distrust. This adversarial relationship is both reflected and reinforced not only in American business ideology, but also in America''s unique legalistic and confrontational style of regulation, the political strategies of the public interest movement, the American approach to American industrial policy, and the distinctive way Americans think about the subject of business ethics. This volume brings together more than two decades of scholarship on business and politics by one of the leading authorities on this subject. These essays also explore a number of critical contemporary issues, including the ongoing debate over the scope and extent of business power in America, the growth of shareholder protests and consumer boycotts, the changing politics of consumer and environmental regulation, and the emergence of both public and business interest in business ethics. In addition, they place the contemporary dynamics of American business-government relations in both an historical and comparative context. Finally these essays demonstrate e the importance of integrating the study of business by political scientists with the study of politics by students of management.Originally published in 1996.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A political history of environmental policy and regulation in California, from the Gold Rush to the presentOver the course of its 150-year history, California has successfully protected its scenic wilderness areas, restricted coastal oil drilling, regulated automobile emissions, preserved coastal access, improved energy efficiency, and, most recently, addressed global climate change. How has this state, more than any other, enacted so many innovative and stringent environmental regulations over such a long period of time? The first comprehensive look at California''s history of environmental leadership, California Greenin'' shows why the Golden State has been at the forefront in setting new environmental standards, often leading the rest of the nation.From the establishment of Yosemite, America''s first protected wilderness, and the prohibition of dumping gold-mining debris in the nineteenth century to sweeping climate- change legislation in the twenty-first, David Vogel traces California''s remarkable environmental policy trajectory. He explains that this pathbreaking role developed because California had more to lose from environmental deterioration and more to gain from preserving its stunning natural geography. As a result, citizens and civic groups effectively mobilized to protect and restore their state''s natural beauty and, importantly, were often backed both by business interests and bystrong regulatory authorities. Business support for environmental regulation in California reveals that strict standards are not only compatible with economic growth but can also contribute to it. Vogel also examines areas where California has fallen short, particularly in water management and the state''s dependence on automobile transportation. As environmental policy debates continue to grow more heated, California Greenin'' demonstrates that the Golden State''s impressive record of environmental accomplishments holds lessons not just for the country but for the world.

The Politics of Precaution examines the politics of consumer and environmental risk regulation in the United States and Europe over the last five decades, explaining why America and Europe have often regulated a wide range of similar risks differently. It finds that between 1960 and 1990, American health, safety, and environmental regulations were more stringent, risk averse, comprehensive, and innovative than those adopted in Europe. But since around 1990, the book shows, global regulatory leadership has shifted to Europe. What explains this striking reversal? David Vogel takes an in-depth, comparative look at European and American policies toward a range of consumer and environmental risks, including vehicle air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, beef and milk hormones, genetically modified agriculture, antibiotics in animal feed, pesticides, cosmetic safety, and hazardous substances in electronic products. He traces how concerns over such risks--and pressure on political leaders to do something about them--have risen among the European public but declined among Americans. Vogel explores how policymakers in Europe have grown supportive of more stringent regulations while those in the United States have become sharply polarized along partisan lines. And as European policymakers have grown more willing to regulate risks on precautionary grounds, increasingly skeptical American policymakers have called for higher levels of scientific certainty before imposing additional regulatory controls on business.

Notwithstanding the myriad forms of government assistance to American business, the relationship of business to politics in the United States remains a highly antagonistic one, characterized by substantial mutual distrust. This adversarial relationship is both reflected and reinforced not only in American business ideology, but also in America''s unique legalistic and confrontational style of regulation, the political strategies of the public interest movement, the American approach to American industrial policy, and the distinctive way Americans think about the subject of business ethics. This volume brings together more than two decades of scholarship on business and politics by one of the leading authorities on this subject. These essays also explore a number of critical contemporary issues, including the ongoing debate over the scope and extent of business power in America, the growth of shareholder protests and consumer boycotts, the changing politics of consumer and environmental regulation, and the emergence of both public and business interest in business ethics. In addition, they place the contemporary dynamics of American business-government relations in both an historical and comparative context. Finally these essays demonstrate e the importance of integrating the study of business by political scientists with the study of politics by students of management.Originally published in 1996.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A political history of environmental policy and regulation in California, from the Gold Rush to the presentOver the course of its 150-year history, California has successfully protected its scenic wilderness areas, restricted coastal oil drilling, regulated automobile emissions, preserved coastal access, improved energy efficiency, and, most recently, addressed global climate change. How has this state, more than any other, enacted so many innovative and stringent environmental regulations over such a long period of time? The first comprehensive look at California''s history of environmental leadership, California Greenin'' shows why the Golden State has been at the forefront in setting new environmental standards, often leading the rest of the nation.From the establishment of Yosemite, America''s first protected wilderness, and the prohibition of dumping gold-mining debris in the nineteenth century to sweeping climate- change legislation in the twenty-first, David Vogel traces California''s remarkable environmental policy trajectory. He explains that this pathbreaking role developed because California had more to lose from environmental deterioration and more to gain from preserving its stunning natural geography. As a result, citizens and civic groups effectively mobilized to protect and restore their state''s natural beauty and, importantly, were often backed both by business interests and bystrong regulatory authorities. Business support for environmental regulation in California reveals that strict standards are not only compatible with economic growth but can also contribute to it. Vogel also examines areas where California has fallen short, particularly in water management and the state''s dependence on automobile transportation. As environmental policy debates continue to grow more heated, California Greenin'' demonstrates that the Golden State''s impressive record of environmental accomplishments holds lessons not just for the country but for the world.