Environmental Policy
Community Involvement in Environmental
Decision-Making
Environmental policy research bridges the gap between the
natural and social sciences. On the one hand,
environmental scientists and engineers tackle the
technical aspects of environmental policy. On the other,
social scientists grapple with the ways in which science
interacts with social and political systems,
acknowledging that questions of policy and power are
fundamentally intertwined. This research explores the
particular function that local communities and average
citizens play in environmental decision-making.
Dr. Mark Stephan and his collaborators
analyze community involvement from a number of angles.
Since not all citizens get involved, a primary question
concerns the factors that influence participation. Why do
some communities see higher levels of community
engagement, while others see lower levels? Further
research is directed towards the actual impacts that
citizens have on decision-making and triggers by which
administrative agencies and environmental experts are
responsive to citizens’ demands. Arguably the most
important question to be answered is whether community
involvement positively influences environmental outcomes.
Initial results suggest a positive relationship,
depending on critical factors such as the technical
capacity of citizens and the desire of policy makers to
work cooperatively. Finding answers to these questions
will serve both academic research and the wider public.
Major research focus areas include:
- Community involvement in toxic waste cleanups as performed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
- The influence of information disclosure programs such as the Toxics Release Inventory on the environmental behavior of private corporations.
- The perceptions held by environmental experts of citizen involvement.
- The changing culture of EPA and other federal agencies as it relates to increased levels of citizen participation in administrative decision-making.
Better understanding of community involvement will enable social scientists to:
- Evaluate community involvement programs that have been initiated by major federal agencies such as EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Defense.
- Help environmental policy experts to understand the impacts on their work by citizens.
- Help citizens to understand the possibility for productive participation in decisions that affect their lives and those of their families.
Contact Information
Mark Stephan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Washington State University Vancouver
14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Avenue
Vancouver, WA 98686-9600
Telephone: 360-546-9788
E-mail: stephanm@wsu.edu
Environmental and Natural Resources
- Markus Flury
- Richard Gill
- Frank Loge
- Mark Stephan
- Philip Wandschneider
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Dr. Mark Stephan received his B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1990), and a Ph.D. in political science from Princeton University (2000). After serving for two years as a visiting assistant professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., he joined the faculty at Washington State University Vancouver in fall 2001. Dr. Stephan received a dissertation grant from Resources for the Future, a Washington-based environmental think tank, in 1997-1998. During his five years in Washington, D.C., Dr. Stephan also worked for the Environmental Protection Agency twice, first in the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) and second in the Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation (OPEI). His research has been published in the American Behavioral Scientist and Social Science Quarterly. |
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