Rational Ecology: Environment and Political Economy

The book describes the variety of institutional arrangements through which collective decisions can be achieved and makes special reference to decision-making on ecology. According to the author, the means employed by societies to make collective choices have far-reaching ramifications for the kind of world which exists or develops. He assesses those means in connection with various forms of rationality used to make decisions and to act: markets, bureaucracies, and polyarchies are among the institutional arrangements evaluated. He examines their capacity for intelligent decision-making, based on notions of justice, individual liberty or economic efficiency, and measures these against the yardstick of environmental concerns, a pressing set of problems which transcend particular political and institutional arrangements. The analysis extends beyond the realm of environmental choice to elucidate more fully the characteristics of the world's social choice mechanisms and proposes innovations for improving these forms.