Environmental Groups: What Political Science Has to Offer

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Environmental GroupsWhat Political Science Has
to Offer

• Lawrence S. Rothenberg
• Department of Political Science
• University of Rochester
• No one likes usI don't know why
• We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we
  tryBut all around, even our old friends put us
  down
• Lyrics to Song Political Science, by Randy
  Newman

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• Outline
• Introduction
• Environmental NGO Mobilization
• NGO Maintenance
• Organizational Structure
• Establishing a Niche (Product Differentiation)
• Tactics and Influence
• Extending Disciplinary Boundaries
• Concluding Thoughts

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• Introduction Political Science and
  Environmental NGOs
• Problems
• Me
• Political Science is an arbitrager
• Political Science is fragmented
• Has Political Science made progress?

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• Themes
• Highlights linkages between mobilization,
  internal affairs, efforts to be influential
• Is influence constrained by mobilization and
  maintenance?
• Tendency to focus on choice behavior vis-à-vis a
  set of formal political institutions (e.g., given
  nation-state or the EU). May ignore other
  possibilities
• Non-markettransboundary choices
• Marketexpands venue choice

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• Environmental NGO Mobilization
• Societal Disturbances v. Free Riding
• Empirical facts
• Millions in U.S. environmental NGOs
• Numbers/contributions dont correspond to public
  opinion
• Is the Bush administration doing too much, too
  little, or just the right amount to reduce global
  warming?
• Too Little58 percent Right Amount29
  percent
• Too Much3 percent Unsure10 percent
• Small selective incentives
• Group creation in waves

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• Political Sciences Answers
• Emphasis on NGO steady-state
• Competition/adaptation
• Augmented individual explanations
• Other incentives
• Features related to willingness to contribute
• Costs of recruitment
• Leaders and patrons
• Entrepreneurs and their utility functions
• Patrons

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• Inferences
• Competition and adaptation
• Lots of reasons that might explain small
  contributions
• Environment NGOs are created by innovative means

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• NGO Maintenance
• Empirical Considerations
• Groups have staying powerexplanations?
• Resource growthless waxing and waning then might
  expect
• Question
• Does and how maintenance needs get reflected in
  organizational structure and goals?
• Political Science Foci
• Internal Processes
• Diversification

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• Internal Processes
• Groups are oligarchic Tendency for
  concentrated decision-making authority, lack of
  organizational democracy, particularly via viable
  electoral mechanisms. Explanations
• Corruption/avaricePolitical Scientists typically
  reject
• Function of group dynamics and the necessities
  for group maintenance
• Voluntary contributions produce satisfied
  customers
• Incentive to cater to larger/conditional
  contributions of members and non-members
• Low information of members
• Unraveling

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• Implications for group goals
• Need to emphasize conditional, larger,
  contributions
• Mostly studied with respect to patrons
• Important remain satisfied
• Some very specific strings

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• Diversification
• Many Political Scientists emphasize
  diversification strategies as key for empirical
  facts about environmental organizations re
  persistence and resources
• Ideology
• Non-market tactics
• Issues

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• Question What is the relationship between
  features related to group maintenance and
  influence?

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• Tactics and Influence
• What we know tactics and resource levels and
  structural features are related
• What we argue about how influential these
  tactics really are
• Descriptive researchvery
• Indirect/perceptual measuresconsiderable
• Behavior net of perceptionsvariable/marginal
• Other factors relevant for political
  decision-makers
• Analytical flaws
• Maintenance considerations

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• Extending Disciplinary Boundaries
• Transboundary efforts
• Market strategies
• Note both may be impacted by mobilization/mainte
  nance considerations that Political Scientists
  have focused

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• Concluding Thoughts
• Political Science
• Strongest re mobilization/maintenance
• Weaker re possible impacts on influence
• Maintenance issues on possible explanation
• Weakest at integrating impacts of globalization
  and developing of market strategies