Politics of Environmental

Political Context of Environmental Management explores how environmental challenges are framed, debated, and addressed within political systems. The course examines how public issues emerge on the policy agenda, how competing interests shape environmental decision-making, and how policy solutions are formulated and implemented across sectors and scales. Emphasizing the intersection of politics, governance, and environmental management, students will analyze tensions between economic and political models of policymaking, the role of interest groups and expertise, and the complexities of managing cross-jurisdictional issues such as federalism and globalization. Case studies, including agriculture, will provide practical insight into the dynamics of environmental policy from local to global levels. By the end of the course, students will develop a deeper understanding of environmental advocacy, the formal and informal actors in environmental governance, and the political conditions that enable or constrain policy change.