International and Domestic Aspects of the Institutionalization of Environmental Policies in Industrial Countries.

The paper analyzes the degree of environmental policy institutionalization among 21 OECD countries from 1960 to 2005. The institutionalization of environmental policy will be analyzed on the one hand, by focusing on the way domestic policy instruments have been applied in OECD countries. On the other hand I will investigate international institutionalization of environmental policy by means of involvement in international treaties and agreements. The paper concludes that highly industrialized societies have institutionalized a high degree of environmental policy over the last decades in both areas. However, environmental institutionalization is clearly divided into a domestic and international realm. Although both areas are linked, different factors explain their respective implementation. Domestic environmental institutionalization is above all determined by domestic political factors (environmental movements, government positions, veto player functions) and international factors (EU membership, diffusion). The analysis is much less successful in explaining international environmental institutionalization. The most robust results of the analysis clearly contradict the findings of earlier studies in this field. International integration does not seem to be a driving force for international participation in environmental treaties among OECD countries. While the paper can answer a great deal of open questions concerning domestic environmental institutionalization, further research is needed in order to explain international environmental institutionalization and why some OECD countries participate in international treaties more often than others. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]