Radioactive Waste Disposal at Sea: Public Ideas ... - IMO

Transnational Coalitions 41
them of deforming babies or killing motorists), and associate the legislation
with widely shared values (clear air, pure water, heath, and safety)”
(ibid., p. 370). Transnational coalitions of entrepreneurs similarly seek
through campaigning to focus attention on societal problems, mobilize
international public and political support, and pressure governments to
adopt more environment-friendly policies. They politically construct targeted
problems as international public “bads.”
Several studies stress the importance of the concern for society’s best
interest when new domestic environmental policies are initiated. Based on
the findings from a collection of case studies in regulatory and environmental
policy making, Wilson (ibid., p. 372) has concluded that “only by
the most extraordinary theoretical contortions can one explain the Auto
Safety Act, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the [Occupational Safety and Health
Act], or most environmental protection laws by reference to the economic
stakes involved.” In the same way, with regard to health, safety, and environmental
regulatory programs from the 1960s and the early 1970s in the
United States, Kelman (1990, p. 40) argues that “these programs were
adopted against the wishes of well-organized producers, to benefit poorly
organized consumers and environmentalists.” 15 Similarly, Reich (1990, p.
4) notes that many of the United States’ environmental policies from the
1960s “have not been motivated principally or even substantially by individuals
seeking to satisfy selfish interests. To the contrary, they have been
broadly understood as matters of public, rather than private, interest. . . .
People have supported these initiatives largely because they were thought
to be good for society.” According to these analysts, regulatory and environmental
initiatives are in many instances intended to benefit society at
large, not just individual groups. Widely accepted ideas, values, and perceptions,
distinguishable from economic interests and group preferences,
seem to play an important role in initiating environmental policy by shaping
society’s perception of how the collective interest is best served.
Policy entrepreneurs advocate ideas and spread images and metaphors
that highlight the need for environmental protection and clearly identify
the targeted problem. But an idea will often be resisted for political, economic,
and institutional reasons. 16 Also, a new and emerging idea, as it is
not yet clearly defined and is at an early stage of development, might be
conceptually or scientifically weak. At other times an idea might be resisted
simply because it is new. Debate and persuasion are consequently needed in